While there is no chance that asteroid 2012 DA14 will hit Earth this Friday, the asteroid's flyby is history-making for several other reasons.

This NASA graphic depicts the size of asteroid 2012 DA14, a 164-foot (50 meters) space rock. It will fly extremely close to Earth on Feb. 15, 2013, coming within 17,200 miles of the planet.

The asteroid 2012 DA14 will give Earth an extremely close shave Friday, Feb. 15. Here is how you can watch the record-setting asteroid flyby on SPACE.com.

That makes 2012 DA14 nothing more than one of the universe's most vivid reminders that we live in a cosmic shooting gallery. The rocky asteroid's orbit is so well-known that Yeomans can say it ...

A graphic depicts the trajectory of asteroid 2012 DA14 during its close approach, as seen edge-on to Earth’s equatorial plane. The asteroid will come closer to Earth than most GPS and TV satellites.

An asteroid, called 2012 DA14, will come within 17,200 miles of Earth on Feb. 15. It will safely miss, but scientists urge we make plans to prevent future impacts.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 has made its closest pass of Earth, just a scant 17,200 miles from our surface, and now astronomers are watching it recede harmlessly into the cosmos. You can watch it, too ...

Asteroid 2012 DA14 won’t hit us… but what if it did? Although asteroid 2012 DA14 will not impact Earth, other small undocumented asteroids could.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 can be seen moving in the center of this animation comprised of observations by the Faulkes Telescope in Siding Springs, Australia.

For the tl;dr crowd, let’s get this out of the way right away: asteroid 2012 DA14 is almost certainly not going to hit the Earth next February. And by “almost certainly”, I mean it: the odds ...

The asteroid 2012 DA14, about 150 feet across, will come closest to Earth on Friday afternoon, Eastern time. It will miss by 17,200 miles -- not much to astronomers.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 will miss Earth by less than 32,000 km (20,000 miles) on February 15.