Discussion of the #RAMSESmission proposal from ESA to rendezvous with #Apophis before the 2029 flyby; for which a decision needs to be made soon.
Operations plan notes that orbiting the asteroid would be impossible during the flyby.
(Again, the #OSIRISAPEx mission from NASA will catch up with Apophis only after the flyby; but even then it will mostly formation-fly and make hyperbolic passes rather than orbiting.)
There She lies, on the sands of Utah, head tall, protecting her precious cargo from the rigors of space and those of Earth, waiting to meet her creators again.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is currently traveling in a heliocentric orbit, slightly inside earth's orbit and lagging behind. Currently, it is 5.1 million km from Earth.
It will perform a close encounter with asteroid 99942 Apophis on April 13, 2029, the day on which Apophis will get awfully close to Earth, just 31,600 km above its surface.
All eyes are on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, as it gets ready for a special delivery to earth of a capsule filled with pristine material collected from the asteroid Bennu in 2020.
The capsule should land around 10:55 a.m. EDT on Sunday at the Air Force Test and Training Range in Utah.
Here is a map of the location of the spacecraft, currently at a distance about 2x that of the moon.
The OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft will swing past Earth after releasing the capsule. The mission will be renamed OSIRIS-APEX ('APophis EXplorer'). OSIRIS-APEX will go on to rendezvous with the near-Earth asteroid (and potentially hazardous object) 99942 Apophis in April 2029.
Bennu was an ancient Egyptian deity linked with the Sun, creation, and rebirth.
Apophis was the ancient Egyptian deity who embodied darkness and disorder.
Both asteroids have near-Earth orbits and are potentially hazardous objects (PHOs).
NASA's Small Bodies Assessment Group wants the agency to send spacecraft to visit the asteroid Apophis before it makes a close approach to Earth in 2029.
⏱️ Time of discovery 🔭 of #asteroids ☄️ which passed within 1 #lunar distance from #Earth in 📆 2023
After closest approach 37.90%
< 24 hours before 20.70%
up to 7 days before 34.50%
> one week before 6.90%
> 7 weeks before 0.00%
> one year before 0.00%
Asteroid Apophis will visit Earth in 2029. Why do scientists want NASA to send a probe there first? (www.space.com)
NASA's Small Bodies Assessment Group wants the agency to send spacecraft to visit the asteroid Apophis before it makes a close approach to Earth in 2029.