In just under half a decade, a 1,000-foot-wide asteroid named after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction, Apophis, will pass within 30,000 miles (48,300 kilometers) of Earth. Scientists have no intention of letting the rare close pass of a space rock of this size go to waste.
On April 13, 2029 — a Friday, at least — when Apophis, officially known as (99942) Apophis, approaches Earth, it will become so prominent above our planet that it can be seen with the naked eye. NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX (formerly OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will be on hand to meet the Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) in person. But, if all goes well, a group of small satellites could join NASA’s mission during its rendezvous.
Within the framework of the auspicious “NEAlight” project, a team from Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) led by aerospace engineer Hakan Kayal has unveiled three concepts for such spacecraft. Both proposed satellites aim to exploit this asteroid’s passage because Earth experiences an event like this only once every thousand years. the goal? To collect data that can help scientists better understand the solar system, and perhaps help develop defensive measures against dangerous asteroids.
Related: The asteroid Apophis will pass near Earth in 2029. Could its collision with space rocks cause it to collide with us?
Why is Apophis a suitable target for studying planetary defense? Well, the asteroid was discovered in 2004, and quickly rose to the top of the charts measuring the danger of so-called potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), or asteroids 460 feet (140 meters) or more across that fall within 20 lunar distances. . Land.
“The size of Apophis and how close its path is to Earth are such that the asteroid remains at the top of both the European Space Agency (ESA).”List of impact risks“of PHAs and NASA Sentinel Risk Table For 17 years. That was until a close flyby of the asteroid — a space rock roughly as wide as the height of the Empire State Building — in March 2021 allowed NASA scientists to determine that Apophis would not actually hit Earth for at least 100 years.
Although we now know that Apophis will not collide with Earth in the next century, its scientific impact in 2029 will still be enormous, and space agencies from around the world will be closely tracking its path.
In addition, as an asteroid that formed at about the same time that planets formed from leftover material around the nascent Sun, Apophis also provides researchers with a unique opportunity to determine the chemical composition of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
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Although we know of about 1.3 million asteroids in the solar system, of which 2,500 are considered potentially hazardous (although none are expected to hit Earth for at least a century), spacecraft missions to study asteroids are relatively rare.
So far, only 20 missions have been deployed to study in situ asteroids, including the aforementioned OSIRIS-REx, Japan’s Hayabusa1 and Hayabusa2 rovers, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta space probe, and the asteroid-hopping Lucy mission, which is currently traveling to the Trojan asteroids that share Their orbit is with Jupiter. Thus, the JMU team must carefully consider its options when considering a future spacecraft to study asteroids.
The team’s first concept is a small satellite that will join Apophis for two months when it approaches Earth in April 2029. The vehicle will stick to the “God of Destruction” space rock for weeks afterward, even as it approaches Earth. He moves away. Over the course of the mission, this German national spacecraft will image Apophis and make measurements to document any changes the NEA undergoes during its flight.
This particular mission will be a difficult task due to its duration, the distance it will have to travel, and the fact that the vehicle will have to operate autonomously for long periods. It must also be launched at least a year before Apophis reaches Earth’s ocean.
The team’s second concept involves integration with a larger spacecraft being planned by the European Space Agency called RAMSES. This mission will be equipped with smaller satellites, measuring equipment and telescopes. Ramses, named after the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great, will travel to Apophis and stay with the asteroid as it passes Earth.
If the second concept is successful, one of the small satellites carried by Ramses will be designed by a team at James University of Maryland. This project requires less technical effort than the first concept while promising to yield greater scientific knowledge.
However, one of the fundamental problems faced by the second concept concerns the launch of the REMESES project, not literally, but figuratively. Its success will depend on the willingness of ESA’s partner countries to fund the mission. Again, a lead time of at least 365 days will be needed to ensure the success of this concept.
The third concept involves a small satellite that will fly only briefly near Apophis when the asteroid is at its closest point to Earth, taking images of the asteroid in the process. This concept would require much less effort, and the vehicle would be relatively inexpensive.
However, the downside of Concept 3 is that its observing time will be limited, which will also limit the amount of knowledge this mission will add to our understanding of asteroids.
On the plus side, the small-scale mission could be launched just two days before Apophis arrives. Also, if Concept 3 is successful in observing Apophis, it will demonstrate the ability of small, inexpensive satellites to study asteroids, which could lead to increased interest in moving forward with in situ asteroid study missions.
The NEAlight project launched at the beginning of May 2024; From now until April 30, 2025, JMU scientists will work to define the requirements and specificities of the missions in question.
Besides visiting Apophis, the three concepts considered could still be options for future missions to other planets in the solar system, the Moon, or perhaps other interesting near-Earth regions.
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