NASA says asteroid is heading towards Earth the night before the US election

There's a small chance an asteroid could plough into Earth the day before the US election.

The chunk of space rock - labelled 2018 VP1 - is expected to zoom past our planet on November 2 and NASA has confirmed it's going to be a close one.

Discovered two years ago by the Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies, VP1 has just a 0.41 per cent chance of hitting our planet - but could come as close as 4,700 feet from Earth.

NASA says a direct impact is not likely “based on 21 observations spanning 12.968” days, while researchers added the asteroid’s chances of entering orbit are slim, at a one in 240 chance.

And even if it does enter the atmosphere, the asteroid is only around six and a half feet in diameter which means it would break apart on entry and create a bright meteor.

NASA says the probability of a city-destroying asteroid hitting Earth is 0.1 per cent every year, and even if it does hit our planet there is a 70 per cent chance it lands in the ocean.

The biggest known threat to Earth from an asteroid is measured to be a huge 4,200 feet in diameter which is expected to fly near our planet in 861 years.

But it has been given a 99.988 per cent chance of missing Earth completely.