The Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) is an unusual ESA mission. A European spacecraft will contact the 375-metre-wide asteroid Apophis during its 2029 close flyby of Earth. The Space Safety programme board gave the ESA approval to begin preparations for this planetary defence mission on July 16, 2024.
Apophis will approach within 32,000 km of Earth on April 13, 2029, visible to two billion people in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Astronomers have ruled out the asteroid hitting Earth, but the Ramses mission seeks important data to prepare for future risks.
The expedition will let scientists see Apophis up close without travelling deep into the solar system. “For the first time ever, nature is bringing one to us,” said Patrick Michel, Director of Research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Nice. As Earth’s enormous tidal forces affect Apophis, scientists will look for signs of the asteroid being “warped and changed by our planet’s gravity,” including landslides and new material.
With its scientific instruments, the spacecraft will investigate Apophis’ shape, surface, orbit, spin, and orientation before and after. This data will disclose the asteroid’s composition, internal structure, cohesion, mass, density, and porosity, as well as its response to external forces.
The Ramses mission improves planetary defence against future asteroid threats. Scientists expect to learn important information about Apophis’ 2029 flyby that could help shield Earth from collisions.
