NASA's putting a lot of effort dispelling those pesky end-of-the-world scenarios. After assuring the public that the Earth isn't going to get sucked into a black hole or getting hit by a supernova blast, NASA is now downplaying speculation from doomsayers that asteroid 2012 DA14 won't obliterate the Earth next year.

The near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 is expected to come within 1.5 million miles of Earth on February 15, 2013. The asteroid, which astronomers estimate to be about 150 feet across, will come closer to Earth than most communication satellites orbiting the planet. However this shouldn't be a cause of concern according to NASA scientists as the asteroid won't hit Earth or the geostationary satellites the asteroid will be passing.

"Its orbit about the sun can bring it no closer to the Earth's surface than 3.2 Earth radii on February 15, 2013," researchers with the Near-Earth Object Program Office, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, wrote in a March 6 update.

Although scientists are still looking to refine their knowledge about the asteroid's orbit, NASA is pretty adamant that it won't hit us. NASA's Near Earth Object program lists the probability that it will strike Earth as 1 in 77,000 or a 99.9987 percent chance it will miss Earth.

2012 DA14 was discovered late last month by astronomers at the La Sagra Observatory in Southern Spain. The asteroid makes relatively close approaches to our planet twice per orbit.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 isn't the only cosmic close encounter that has ignited the world's paranoia. Another asteroid called 2011 AG5 is about 460 feet and has been gaining notoriety because of a chance that it could slam into Earth when it comes around in 28 years. The asteroid is rated a 1 on the 1-to-10 Torino Impact Hazard Scale that denotes potentially hazardous asteroids. 2011 AG45 is expected to come near Earth in February 2023 but will come no closer than about 1 million miles from our planet.