HOW’S THAT SPACE PROGRAM COMING ALONG? Huge ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid to buzz by Earth: The asteroid will fly closer than some orbiting spacecraft. “The 1,100-foot-wide asteroid will be visible to the naked eye. NASA says it will look like a moving star-like point of light. It will be visible in the night sky over the southern hemisphere, moving east to west over Australia. As it zooms by the Earth, it will pass over the United States between 6 p.m, and 7 p.m. EDT. . . . While Apophis is not expected to hit Earth, scientists are meeting this week at the Planetary Defense Conference to discuss a hypothetical scenario of how to deflect an approaching asteroid within the next eight years.”

Related: Combating the Asteroid Threat.