NASA sends probe to Apophis, a potentially dangerous asteroid that will pass Earth in 2029

Apophis, which will pass just 32,000 kilometers from Earth in April 2029 – Friday the 13th to be exact – will be visited by the space probe. NASA has decided to extend the Osiris-Rex mission and hand it over to Apophis after the Bennu sample is sent back to Earth. Over the course of 18 months, you will carefully study this asteroid, which for some time was considered a threat to Earth.

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Osiris-Rex is one of the Eight missions which one NASA I decided to do some stretching. The mission is on its way to Earth to bring it back Samples from the surface of the asteroid Bennu Which recovered in October 2020 and will be sent to Earth in September 2023. Next, will head for the asteroid Apophis, which will be reached in 2029, shortly after crossing just 32 thousand kilometers from Earth on April 13, 2029. probe, which will be renamed On behalf of Osiris-Apex for Apophis Explorer, It will not orbit Apophis but will fly close to it for about 18 months. This will be the first opportunity to study S-type asteroids.

L’asteroid Apophiswhich has a diameter of about 350 meters, has regularly made headlines since its discovery in 2004, for its low – but not zero, risk of a collision with Earth in time.

Note that while recent trajectory calculations have ruled out collision risk for the next 100 years,” Recent radar observations by Apophis suggest it may be an asteroid binary In contact, that is, it consists of two lobes of rock bound together by gravity, which can produce an interesting, but harmless, effect when passing close to Earth. Patrick Michel, director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research at the Côte d’Azur Observatory, explained the mission’s principal investigator. Hira from’ESA He is a co-investigator on several international missions. So Apophis is An excellent natural laboratory for observing and understanding the effects of tides on objects passing near the Earth ».

An unprecedented maneuver to sweep the surface of Apophis

Osiris-Apex won’t be able to collect samples from Apophis but will use them pusher Get close to the surface to scan a bit of what’s on the surface and see what’s directly below. To understand the great scientific interest of this maneuver, you should know that in general, it is difficult to determine the exact composition of an asteroid from a spectroscopic image, because of its similar spectral signature and, moreover, some volatile elements. Escape to outer space.

The elements visible on the surface therefore do not always correspond to those below and it is therefore interesting to dig and take a sample or, in the case of the mission in question, to light for the thrusters the surface of the menyeka surface .

Technically, the mission is not without risk, NASA insists. The path that the probe will take to reach Apophis That would be in half a solar astronomical unit. As a reminder, one astronomical unit equals about 150 million kilometers, which is the distance between the Earth and the Sun. However, the probes are not designed to fly “that close” to the Sun, so it is necessary to monitor the overall condition of the probe, its payload, and its scientific payload almost continuously.