ParisApophis skims Earth inside geostationary orbit in 2029.
European and Japanese space agencies signed a Ramses mission agreement to rendezvous with Apophis at 32,000 km.
The 2029 flyby offers a once-per-generation chance to observe Earth’s tidal forces deforming a major asteroid.
Sources: Phys.org
THE 2029 ENCOUNTER
Apophis is a 340-meter near-Earth asteroid that will pass within 32,000 km of Earth's surface on April 13, 2029 — closer than geostationary satellites orbit. It will be visible to the naked eye over Europe and Africa, the first time in recorded history a major asteroid passes that close to a populated planet.
WHY THE NAME
Discovered in 2004 and initially given a 2.7% chance of striking Earth in 2029 — the highest impact probability ever assigned — astronomers named it after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction. Refined orbital data later ruled out impact for both 2029 and 2036.
WHAT TIDAL FORCES DO
When a rubble-pile asteroid passes close to a planet, the gravitational gradient across its body — stronger pull on the near side than the far side — can stretch, crack, and resurface it. Apophis is the first chance to watch this happen to a kilometer-scale object in real time.
THE DART PRECEDENT
NASA's DART mission slammed a probe into the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022, shortening its orbit by 32 minutes — the first demonstration that humans can deflect an asteroid. Ramses is the observation half of that doctrine: you cannot deflect what you cannot characterize.
WHY RENDEZVOUS, NOT FLYBY
A flyby gives minutes of data; a rendezvous gives months. Ramses arrives before the close approach and stays through it, measuring the asteroid's spin, shape, and internal structure as Earth's gravity squeezes it. The science is in the *change*, not the snapshot.
THE FREQUENCY
Asteroids of Apophis's size pass this close to Earth roughly once every 7,500 years on average. Missing the 2029 window means waiting for a target that, in human terms, will not come again.