Nepal, June 23 -- If a huge asteroid smashes into the Moon in 2032, the gigantic explosion would send debris streaming towards Earth that would threaten satellites and create a spectacular meteor shower, according to researchers.

Earlier this year there were briefly fears that the 60-metre-wide (200-foot-wide) asteroid called 2024 YR4, which is big enough to level a city, would strike Earth on December 22, 2032.

It was given the highest chance -- 3.1 percent -- of hitting our home planet that scientists have ever measured for such a giant space rock.

Subsequent observations from telescopes definitively ruled out a direct hit on Earth.

However, the odds that it will crash into the Moon have risen to 4.3 percent, according to data from ...