Asteroid danger? NASA scientist warns comets are ‘faster, larger and pack a bigger punch’

But Steve Chesley from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, fears there are bigger threats lurking in deep space.

Dr Chesley appeared on NASA’s On A Mission podcast where he discussed asteroids’ icy cousins, comets.

He said: “Because their orbits are eccentric, elongated, they are moving much faster than asteroids are when they come into the area around the Earth, and so comets pack a bigger punch.

“Adding to that is the ones that are coming from the far, far reaches of our solar system, these appear not to be small.

“And so not only are they going faster, but they’re probably larger.”

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