(Image Source: ESA / National Geographic ) BY COLLIN RUANE ANCHOR JAMAL ANDRESS A cruise-ship-sized asteroid is set to give Earth a close shave next week, coming closer to our planet than any asteroid that size has come before. Dubbed 2012 DA-14, will pass within 17,200 miles — closer than TV and communications satellites. ( Video via NASA ) Fortunately, there isn’t anything to worry about this time around. A NASA scientist told euronews our planet is in no danger. “The close approach of this object, 2012 DA-14, on February 15th is nothing to worry about. It’s orbit is very well known. We know exactly where it’s gonna go, and it cannot hit the Earth.” But the close call has some wondering: What if an object like this did hit Earth? And is there anything we could do to stop it? Purdue University has developed a calculator that gives a rough prediction of an asteroid’s damage. A writer for the Washington Post crunched the numbers and found... “… the asteroid would begin to break up in the air — by the time they hit land, the fragments likely wouldn’t be big enough to form a deep crater in the Earth. That doesn’t mean everything would be fine, though. The asteroid impact would resemble the famed Tunguska Event, a massive explosion by an asteroid or comet that leveled more than 2000 square miles of forest in Russia back in 1908. Scientists first discovered this latest asteroid just last year, and were quickly able to determine whether it would hit Earth. But if their results had shown a hit, is there anything that could be done? There are several ideas out there, and they’re surprisingly gentle. Like a gravity tractor, a spacecraft that hovers near the asteroid and lets its tiny gravitational pull alter the rock’s course. ( Via University of Hawaii ) Or how about a little paint? Wired explains that by painting an asteroid, we can change how it absorbs sunlight and alter its course that way. No nukes or Bruce Willis missions necessary. But all of these plans require one thing: time. An asteroid expert from the University of Arizona told KVOA : “The key is to discover it years in advance, 10, 20, 30 years before an impact and then one way you can stop is just by slowly nudging it in its orbit.” Scientists say next week’s asteroid flyby will not be visible from the U.S., but will be visible from Australia, Asia, and Europe if weather permits.