NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX Mission to Study Asteroid Apophis Close to Earth in 2029

• OSIRIS-APEX will not land on the asteroid’s surface, but it will be very close to studying the surface.
• The asteroid Apophis will be close to Earth on April 13, 2029.

CLEAR — OSIRIS-Rex, a US Space Agency (NASA) aircraft that has just returned from space travel, is reassigned to study asteroid nicknamed ‘God of Chaos’ which is starting to approach Earth.

NASA changed the name of the aircraft from OSISIR =Rex to OSIRIS-APEX. The plane will approach the asteroid Apophis which will fly very close to Earth in 2029. Apophis’ close visit to Earth has never been recorded in human history.

OSIRIS-Rex returned to Earth last September, after seven years of collecting space rock samples.

Apophis the God of Chaos is expected to pass by Earth on April 13, 2029 at a distance of 20 thousand miles — closer than some man-made satellites. Apophis will be visible in the eastern hemisphere.

The asteroid measures 370 meters. NASA says Apophis comes very close to Earth every 7,500 years.

“Earth’s gravity will affect the space rock as it approaches orbit, and OSIRIS-APEX will study how the asteroid’s surface changes,” said Amy Simon, the mission’s project scientist.

Earth’s impact is expected to change the length of the asteroid’s day, which is currently 30.6 hours per day. As a result, Apophis will experience landslides and earthquakes.

“We know tidal forces and the accumulation of debris pile material are fundamental processes that can play a role in planet formation,” said Dani Mendoza DellaGiustina, OSIRIS-APEX principal investigator at the University of Arizona.

OSIRIS-APEX will encounter Apophis, an S-type asteroid, on April 13, 2029 but will not land on its surface. The aircraft will operate very close to Apophis for 18 months.

At that time, OSIRIS-APEX will not only see surface changes, but also map the surface and analyze the rock’s chemical makeup, NASA said.

OSIRIS-APEX is also 16 feet from the asteroid’s surface so it can fire thrusters down to peer at the material below.

Even though the asteroid is still five years away from Earth, scientists will observe it when the asteroid is at its closest of the six closest distances to the Sun.

2023-12-27 14:03:03
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