OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer (OSIRIS-APEX) Mission

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After successfully completing its mission to gather a sample of asteroid Bennu in September 2023, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) was renamed OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer (OSIRIS-APEX). The spacecraft was sent to study Apophis during the asteroid's 2029 Earth flyby.

About Apophis:

Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by astronomers Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. They were only able to observe the asteroid for two days because of technical and weather problems. Fortunately, a team at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia spotted the asteroid again later in the same year.

Since its discovery, optical and radar telescopes have tracked Apophis as it orbits the Sun and scientists are confident they know its future trajectory.

Estimated to be about 1,100 feet (340 meters) across, Apophis quickly gained notoriety as an asteroid that could pose a serious threat to Earth when astronomers predicted that it would come uncomfortably close in 2029. Thanks to additional observations of Apophis, the risk of an impact in 2029 was later ruled out, as was the potential impact risk posed by another close approach in 2036. Until March 2021, however, a small chance of impact in 2068 still remained.

When Apophis made a distant flyby of Earth around March 5, 2021, astronomers took the opportunity to use powerful radar observations to refine the estimate of its orbit around the Sun with extreme precision, enabling them to confidently rule out any impact risk in 2068 and long after.

NASA

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