Back-to-back asteroids harmlessly fly past Earth

(AP) PASADENA, Calif. - A newly discovered small asteroid has harmlessly zipped close to Earth - just as scientists expected.

The 16-foot-long space rock, discovered Monday, passed by early Tuesday at a distance of 8,950 miles from the Earth's surface.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which tracks such flybys, said the asteroid - dubbed 2012 KT42 - was the sixth closest asteroid approach.

It was the second asteroid encounter this week. On Monday, another asteroid, measuring 69 feet across, flew by at a distance of 32,000 miles.