NASA sent back a space explorer who just back from far-off space, to do three different investigations. The spacecraft, now called OSIRIS-APEX is from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. It’s on a mission to closely study the asteroid Apophis in 2029, which is a super rare event that hasn’t occurred in all of recorded history, according to NASA.
This space rock is about 370 yards wide visits Earth approximately every 7,500 years. When it gets close, Earth’s gravity will influence it and NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft will observe the aftermath to understand ‘how its surface change’ according to Amy Simon, the mission’s project scientist.
Apophis, also known as the ‘God of Chaos’ is expected to come quite close to Earth on April 13, 2029, being just 20,000 miles away. This is even closer than some human-made satellites and people in the Eastern Hemisphere will be able to see it.
NASA mentioned that the spacecraft won’t just watch for changes on the surface but will also create a map and study what the rock is made of.
The spacecraft will come as close as 16 feet to the rock’s surface. By shooting its thrusters downward, it aims to uncover what’s been stirred up and give scientists a sneak peek at the material beneath the surface.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned to Earth in September 2023 after spending seven years collecting samples from the space rock Bennu.
