NASA: An Asteroid Will Barely Avoid Slamming Into Earth Today David Edwards, The Raw Story Jun. 27, 2011, 11:47 AM Image: Flickr Ed Sweeny Astronomers have just discovered an asteroid that is expected come close enough to Earth Monday that it will be visible with amateur telescopes. The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research centre (LINEAR) spotted Asteroid 2011 MD on June 22. It has an orbit similar to Earth's. The asteroid will be visible from parts of South Africa and Antarctica when it makes its closest approach at 1:14 p.m. EDT (1714 GMT), passing just 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) from the...