About the Wednesday incidence of two asteroids – 2010 RF12 and 2010 RX30 - passing within 154,000 miles of the Earth, NASA scientists said that events such as these are not rare; and single asteroids often make such close passes which often go unnoticed.

Talking about the Wednesday asteroid event, Lindley Johnson, program executive of the Near-Earth Object program at NASA’s Washington Headquarters, said: “This is the first time we've seen two (asteroid passes) combined within a 24-hour period, but that's probably because we don't know everything that is out there.” 

The passing of the asteroids within a 154,000-mile distance from the Earth marks a distance that is approximately halfway between the Earth and the Moon. 

While the 50-foot asteroid 2010 RX30 passed within the mentioned distance at 5:51 a.m. ET; the smaller 30-foot asteroid 2010 RF12 made an even closer pass, within 50,000 miles of the Earth, at 5:12 p.m. ET. The asteroids, which were not visible to the naked eye, could be viewed through sophisticated amateur telescopes.

Noting that the paths of the two asteroids are too far away to pose any threat to either the Earth or any satellites, Johnson further added that even if the asteroids had hit the Earth, they would have disintegrated in the atmosphere. Johnson added that in such a case, a few meteorites that would have resulted would not have caused any damage to the ground.