The near-Earth asteroid Apophis will skim past Earth in 2029, offering scientists an unprecedented research opportunity and prompting new international missions.
At a Glance
- Apophis will pass within 30,600 km of Earth on April 13, 2029
- NASA has ruled out any collision risk for at least 100 years
- ESA and JAXA are planning a Ramses mission to intercept Apophis pre-flyby
- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will extend as OSIRIS-APEX to study Apophis after the pass
- Japan confirmed it will provide an H3 rocket to support Europe’s mission launch
The Flyby Event
On April 13, 2029, asteroid 99942 Apophis will make its closest recorded approach to Earth. Traveling at about 30 kilometers per second, it will pass within 30,600 kilometers of the surface—closer than many geostationary satellites. Scientists emphasize that there is no risk of collision, despite initial concerns raised after its discovery in 2004. At that time, preliminary calculations gave it a small but significant chance of impact, but further observations fully eliminated that risk.
Watch now: What Would Happen if Apophis Struck Earth in 2029? · YouTube
The flyby will make Apophis visible to the naked eye from parts of Europe, Africa, and western Asia, appearing as a bright point of light streaking across the sky. Beyond its visual spectacle, the encounter offers a rare chance to study how Earth’s gravity may alter the asteroid’s trajectory, spin, and even its surface structure.
Missions in Motion
The European Space Agency is preparing the Ramses mission, which could launch in 2028 and arrive at Apophis in early 2029, just before the flyby. If approved, Ramses will carry two CubeSats designed to analyze the asteroid’s internal structure and attempt a landing to study its seismic properties. Earlier this week, Japan’s space agency JAXA announced it will provide an H3 rocket to launch Ramses, along with supplying key hardware including infrared sensors and solar arrays.
Meanwhile, NASA has extended its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft—fresh from returning samples of asteroid Bennu—into a new mission called OSIRIS-APEX. It will rendezvous with Apophis after the flyby to investigate surface changes, potentially using thruster maneuvers to expose fresh material beneath the regolith. Budgetary discussions in Washington have cast some uncertainty over its full funding, but the mission remains a centerpiece of NASA’s asteroid research program.
Why Apophis Matters
The 2029 encounter is the closest predicted flyby of an asteroid of this size for the foreseeable future. Measuring around 340 meters in diameter, Apophis falls into the category of near-Earth objects large enough to cause significant regional damage if it were ever to collide with Earth. Although that possibility has been ruled out for centuries, its close approach makes it a valuable natural experiment in planetary defense.
Studying Apophis could reveal how Earth’s gravity reshapes an asteroid’s surface, inform future deflection strategies, and refine models of orbital dynamics. Scientists hope the flyby and accompanying missions will improve readiness for any future threats from similar near-Earth objects. International cooperation—through ESA, NASA, JAXA, and other partners—underscores how planetary defense has become a shared global priority.
Sources
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Editor
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://deepstatetribunal.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
