European Space Agency to Watch Apophis Asteroid Approach Earth in 2029

The appearance of asteroid 99942 Apophis will approach Earth (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA – Asteroid 99942 Apophis is expected to approach Earth in 2029. With a distance of less than 32,000 kilometers, many want to observe this asteroid up close, one of which is Europe.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will create a new mission called the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses). As the name implies, this mission will observe Apophis to gain knowledge about Near-Earth Asteroids (NEOs) and create defenses.

Ramses will study the right way to fend off NEOs when the asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. Through this mission, ESA believes that they can minimize or even overcome the destruction that Earth will face.

Reported from Space, scientists from ESA were allowed to plan Ramses before the mission was officially adopted. This was done to speed up the mission because Ramses must be launched in April 2028 in order to meet Apophis.

For approval and allocation of funds, discussions about the Ramses mission will be held at the ESA Ministerial Council meeting in November next year. The meeting will involve ESA members from each European country.

For the space agency, the Ramses mission is very important because a large asteroid has never been so close to Earth. Although the asteroid with a diameter of 375 meters will approach Earth again, scientists have to wait decades.

Apophis was first discovered in 2004 and is categorized as a very dangerous asteroid. The name of this asteroid is even taken from the name of the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction because it is estimated to destroy Earth.

However, based on the results of further observations from ESA, this asteroid will not hit Earth in 2029, 2036, and 2068. At least, Apophis will not have an impact on Earth for the next 100 years.