At just 0.010AU from Earth, 4179 Toutatis became the closest asteroid to Earth in the last century.
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Asteroid 2014 RC passed safely by Earth at a distance of 24,800 miles away.
The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, returned to Earth.
An asteroid, dubbed 'City Killer,' came closer to Earth than the moon and was almost undetected.
A large explosion above the Pacific Ocean turned out to be a meteorite.
Using Johannes Kepler's predictions, French scientist Pierre Gassendi became the first person to witness Mercury's transit between the Earth and the Sun.
