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The asteroid 99942 Apophis is headed for a close flyby with Earth on April 13, 2029, and space agencies are coordinating efforts to study the object during this the once-in-a-lifetime experience.
NASA’s extended asteroid mission, now called OSIRIS-APEX, will reach the asteroid after its flyby. ESA’s complementary RAMSES mission will study the asteroid with a different suite of instruments before and during Apophis’ approach.
Earlier this month, JAXA also detailed efforts for its DESTINY+ mission to possibly swing by Apophis on its way to 3200 Phaethon (another asteroid).
Science is a collaborative process, and for evidence of this fact, look no further than 99942, the doomsday-asteroid-turned-scientific-opportunity, Apophis. Named for the Egyptian serpent god, Apophis will make a rendezvous with Earth on April 13, 2029. It will pass even closer to Earth than some geosynchronous satellites, and space agencies around the world are gearing up to visit the object as it passes by.
NASA’s mission, in a way, is already in progress. The agency’s OSIRIS-REx mission—having successfully visited the asteroid Bennu in 2020 and returning a sample three years later—has now evolved into OSIRIS-APEX (Apophis Explorer) as it gears up for a visit with Apophis in June of 2029. Simultaneously, the European Space Agency’s Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES…nice acronym work there) will complement NASA’s mission.
Set for launch in April of 2028, RAMSES will contain a suite of distinct scientific tools—including a low-frequency radar, gravimeter, and lander—and will actually arrive at Apophis before and during its buzz by Earth. OSIRIS-APEX, on the other hand, will be one hour behind Apophis on April 13th. It will officially reach its target in June, and will study the asteroid for 18 months.
ESA and NASA aren’t the only ones interested in this flyby event. As New Scientist reports, the Japanese space agency JAXA is planning its Demonstration of Space Technology for Interplanetary Voyage with Phaethon Flyby Dust Science (DESTINY+…this acronym is more tortured) also has plans for Apophis. As its name suggests, DESTINY+’s primary mission is the 3200 Phaethon, but on the spacecraft’s journey toward this asteroid, it’ll make a flyby of Apophis in 2029 as well.
This trio of space missions arrives as space agencies have gotten serious about investigating planetary defense strategies—just in case one of the thousands of near-Earth objects comes within a threatening range. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was a major success on this front, altering the path of Dimorphos, which is a minor planet-moon of the asteroid Didymos. This work was further complimented by OSIRIS-REx, which gave scientists an unprecedented glimpse of an asteroid’s composition.
Interestingly, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) is also developing methods for planetary salvation. Although not visiting Apophis directly, China plans to swing by another asteroid—2015 XF261, which stretches some 30 meters wide—and will perform a “kinetic impactor” approach similar to the DART mission. According to Space News, Li Mingtaon (director of the space science system engineering at the CNSA) said that 2029 will be the year of “asteroid awareness and planetary defense.”
Science is getting serious about protecting Earth from one of its largest celestial dangers, and it’ll take worldwide cooperation to protect the planet we love.
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