Scientists from the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) maintain that there is a ‘miniscule’ possibility of any impact between a gigantic asteroid and the Earth, even at a later date, recently predicted by Russian scientists.

The Russian scientists, according to CBS News, claim in its latest observation that a 900-foot-long (270 meters) asteroid named Apophis, was seen to be heading its way to a ‘gravitational keyhole’ when it passes the earth in 2029.

Still citing the report, CBS added that such movement near the ‘gravitational keyhole' is what Russian scientists have underscored to lead the enormous Apophis to change direction and revert back to earth in 2036, causing a more damaging and threatening impact to the planet.

The gravitation keyhole, noted CBS is a ‘precise region in space’, described slightly larger than the asteroid itself. This keyhole has great effect on Earth’s gravity that it could ‘tweak Apophis’ path’.

The Office of NASA’s Near-Erath Object Program has clarified the report recently made by the Russian scientists.

“Technically, they’re correct, there is a chance in 2036 [that Apophis will hit Earth]," the head of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office, Donald Yeomans was quoted clearing up the conflicting reports, by the CBS News.

The NASA official insisted that the chances are unlikely. He said, “However, that chance is just 1-in-250,000."

“The situation is that in 2029, April 13, [Apophis] flies very close to the Earth, within five Earth radii, so that will be quite an event, but we’ve already ruled out the possibility of it hitting at that time,” Yeomans was quoted by the CBS as telling Life’s Little Mysteries.

“On the other hand, if it goes through what we call a keyhole during that close Earth approach … then it will indeed be perturbed just right so that it will come back and smack Earth on April 13, 2036,” the NASA official added.

Yeomans also made clear that the gravitational keyhole in question is ‘tiny’ compared to the asteroid, thereby giving a ‘miniscule’ chances for it to change the direction the asteroid is headed.

The head of Office of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program then gave his own assessment on what is likely to happen on April 13, 2036.

Yeomans said, according to CBS, “Apophis will make a fairly close approach to Earth in late 2012 and early 2013, and will be extensively observed with ground-based optical telescopes and radar systems. If it seems to be heading on a destructive path, NASA will devise the scheme and machinery necessary to change the asteroid’s orbit, decreasing the probability of a collision in 2036 to zero.

CBS emphasized that the US NASA has already been preparing for the projected impact the asteroid will make, as it passes ‘relatively close’ to the earth in the coming years.

The US scientists are expected to conduct intensified and careful study on the asteroid’s movement, armed with both the orbiting and ground-based telescopes.And should US NASA reaches a conclusion, that indeed the impending collision could be a threat for the planet, the CSB noted that NASA officials are outlining parameters to prevent enormous damages to earth. One step highlighted by the NASA official is building of a spacecraft to used in their attempts to change the Apophis’s assumed path.