If asteroid Bennu hit Earth, it would cause significant destruction, but it would not destroy the planet or all life on it. The asteroid would leave a crater four miles (6.4 km) wide and knock down nearby cities. The impact would also spawn an earthquake and a shockwave through Earths atmosphere, which together would likely damage buildings hundreds of miles away from the impact site. Bennu is categorized as a Near-Earth Object (NEO) and could pass through a "gravitational keyhole" in the year 2182, causing it to collide with Earth. However, the chances of this happening are very slim, with a 1 in 2,700 chance of Bennu actually striking our planet that year. If Bennu does hit Earth, it would release 1,200 megatons of energy, which is 24 times the energy of the most powerful nuclear weapon ever built. NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission is studying Bennu to better understand how to protect Earth if Bennus trajectory were ever to intersect with that of our planet.