* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Penn State-Themed Restaurant and Entertainment Spot Happy Valley Live Set to Open in State College – StateCollege.com

    Penn State-Themed Restaurant and Entertainment Spot Happy Valley Live Set to Open in State College – StateCollege.com

    The Police Made Chart History With This 1979 Hit Nearly 50 Years Ago – Yahoo

    How The Police Changed Music Forever with Their Iconic 1979 Hit Nearly 50 Years Ago

    Good Deed Entertainment Acquires Worldwide Rights To Liza Mandelup’s Documentary ‘Caterpillar’ – Deadline

    Good Deed Entertainment Lands Global Rights to Liza Mandelup’s Captivating Documentary ‘Caterpillar

    Danielle Fishel Explains Why Being on “DWTS” Makes Her Feel ‘Like It’s 1994 Again’ Filming “Boy Meets World” (Exclusive) – Yahoo

    Danielle Fishel Explains Why Being on “DWTS” Makes Her Feel ‘Like It’s 1994 Again’ Filming “Boy Meets World” (Exclusive) – Yahoo

    Jussie Smollett Claims He Was ‘Disrespected’ on the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere – Yahoo

    Jussie Smollett Opens Up About Feeling ‘Disrespected’ During the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    STELLA Automotive AI Appoints Fred Seidelman as Chief Technology Officer – Yahoo Finance

    STELLA Automotive AI Appoints Fred Seidelman as New Chief Technology Officer

    Saving Energy and Money with Smart Technology – Terms of Service with Clare Duffy – Podcast on CNN Podcasts – CNN

    Saving Energy and Money with Smart Technology – Terms of Service with Clare Duffy – Podcast on CNN Podcasts – CNN

    Four Strategic Signals Technology Leaders Are Tuning In To – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM ARM – Harvard Business Review

    Four Essential Strategic Signals Every Technology Leader Should Watch

    Virginia Tech hosts annual New Music + Technology Festival this week – Cardinal News

    Virginia Tech Kicks Off Exciting Annual New Music and Technology Festival This Week

    Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee – The Guardian

    Why I Decided to Make the World Wide Web Free for Everyone | Tim Berners-Lee

    From shale to steam: Fossil fuel technology boosts clean geothermal energy – Washington Examiner

    From Shale to Steam: How Fossil Fuel Technology is Powering a Clean Geothermal Energy Revolution

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Penn State-Themed Restaurant and Entertainment Spot Happy Valley Live Set to Open in State College – StateCollege.com

    Penn State-Themed Restaurant and Entertainment Spot Happy Valley Live Set to Open in State College – StateCollege.com

    The Police Made Chart History With This 1979 Hit Nearly 50 Years Ago – Yahoo

    How The Police Changed Music Forever with Their Iconic 1979 Hit Nearly 50 Years Ago

    Good Deed Entertainment Acquires Worldwide Rights To Liza Mandelup’s Documentary ‘Caterpillar’ – Deadline

    Good Deed Entertainment Lands Global Rights to Liza Mandelup’s Captivating Documentary ‘Caterpillar

    Danielle Fishel Explains Why Being on “DWTS” Makes Her Feel ‘Like It’s 1994 Again’ Filming “Boy Meets World” (Exclusive) – Yahoo

    Danielle Fishel Explains Why Being on “DWTS” Makes Her Feel ‘Like It’s 1994 Again’ Filming “Boy Meets World” (Exclusive) – Yahoo

    Jussie Smollett Claims He Was ‘Disrespected’ on the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere – Yahoo

    Jussie Smollett Opens Up About Feeling ‘Disrespected’ During the ‘Special Forces’ Season Premiere

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

    TicketSmarter Fall Entertainment Guide – Eastern Illinois University Athletics

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    STELLA Automotive AI Appoints Fred Seidelman as Chief Technology Officer – Yahoo Finance

    STELLA Automotive AI Appoints Fred Seidelman as New Chief Technology Officer

    Saving Energy and Money with Smart Technology – Terms of Service with Clare Duffy – Podcast on CNN Podcasts – CNN

    Saving Energy and Money with Smart Technology – Terms of Service with Clare Duffy – Podcast on CNN Podcasts – CNN

    Four Strategic Signals Technology Leaders Are Tuning In To – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM ARM – Harvard Business Review

    Four Essential Strategic Signals Every Technology Leader Should Watch

    Virginia Tech hosts annual New Music + Technology Festival this week – Cardinal News

    Virginia Tech Kicks Off Exciting Annual New Music and Technology Festival This Week

    Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee – The Guardian

    Why I Decided to Make the World Wide Web Free for Everyone | Tim Berners-Lee

    From shale to steam: Fossil fuel technology boosts clean geothermal energy – Washington Examiner

    From Shale to Steam: How Fossil Fuel Technology is Powering a Clean Geothermal Energy Revolution

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

NASA’s Daring Mission To Intercept the “God of Chaos” Asteroid As It Closes In on Earth

December 27, 2023
in Science
NASA’s Daring Mission To Intercept the “God of Chaos” Asteroid As It Closes In on Earth
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Lonnie Shekhtman and Rob Garner, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center December 27, 2023

OSIRIS-REx Heads Home

OSIRIS-REx, now OSIRIS-APEX, is on a mission to study asteroid Apophis, utilizing its close approach to Earth in 2029. After successfully returning a sample from Bennu, the spacecraft will observe Apophis, an “S-type” asteroid, providing insights into solar system formation and planetary defense. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

The former OSIRIS-REx spacecraft sets off on a journey to study asteroid Apophis and take advantage of the asteroid’s 2029 flyby of Earth, the likes of which hasn’t happened since the dawn of recorded history.

At the end of a long-haul road trip, it might be time to kick up your feet and rest awhile – especially if it was a seven-year, 4 billion-mile journey to bring Earth a sample of asteroid Bennu. But OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer), the NASA mission that accomplished this feat in September, is already well on its way (with a new name) to explore a new destination.

When OSIRIS-REx left Bennu in May 2021 with a sample aboard, its instruments were in great condition, and it still had a quarter of its fuel left. So instead of shutting down the spacecraft after it delivered the sample, the team proposed to dispatch it on a bonus mission to asteroid Apophis, with an expected arrival in April 2029. NASA agreed, and OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Apophis Explorer) was born.

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Departing Asteroid Bennu

This illustration shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft departing asteroid Bennu to begin its two-year journey back to Earth. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

A Rare Opportunity at Apophis

After considering several destinations (including Venus and various comets), NASA chose to send the spacecraft to Apophis, an “S-type” asteroid made of silicate materials and nickel-iron – a fair bit different than the carbon-rich, “C-type” Bennu.

The intrigue of Apophis is its exceptionally close approach of our planet on April 13, 2029. Although Apophis will not hit Earth during this encounter or in the foreseeable future, the pass in 2029 will bring the asteroid within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of the surface – closer than some satellites, and close enough that it could be visible to the naked eye in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Scientists estimate that asteroids of Apophis’ size, about 367 yards across (about 340 meters), come this close to Earth only once every 7,500 years.

Asteroid Apophis Deep Space Network

These images of asteroid Apophis were recorded by radio antennas at the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone complex in California and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The asteroid was 10.6 million miles (17 million kilometers) away, and each pixel has a resolution of 127 feet (38.75 meters). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech and NSF/AUI/GBO

“OSIRIS-APEX will study Apophis immediately after such a pass, allowing us to see how its surface changes by interacting with Earth’s gravity,” said Amy Simon, the mission’s project scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Apophis’ close encounter with Earth will change the asteroid’s orbit and the length of its 30.6-hour day. The encounter also may cause quakes and landslides on the asteroid’s surface that could churn up material and uncover what lies beneath.

“The close approach is a great natural experiment,” said Dani Mendoza DellaGiustina, principal investigator for OSIRIS-APEX at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “We know that tidal forces and the accumulation of rubble pile material are foundational processes that could play a role in planet formation. They could inform how we got from debris in the early solar system to full-blown planets.”

Apophis represents more than just the opportunity to learn more about how solar systems and planets form: As it happens, most of the known potentially hazardous asteroids (those whose orbits come within 4.6 million miles of Earth) are also S-types. What the team learns about Apophis can inform planetary defense research, a top priority for NASA.

OSIRIS-APEX: Travel Itinerary

By April 2, 2029 – around two weeks before Apophis’ close encounter with Earth – OSIRIS-APEX’s cameras will begin taking images of the asteroid as the spacecraft catches up to it. Apophis will also be closely observed by Earth-based telescopes during this time. But in the hours after the close encounter, Apophis will appear too near the Sun in the sky to be observed by ground-based optical telescopes. This means any changes triggered by the close encounter will be best detected by the spacecraft.

This animation depicts the orbital trajectory of asteroid 99942 Apophis as it zooms safely past Earth on April 13, 2029. Earth’s gravity will slightly deflect the trajectory as the 1,100-foot-wide (340-meter-wide) near-Earth object comes within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of our planet’s surface. The dots are the many man-made satellites that orbit our planet. The motion has been speeded up 2,000 times. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

OSIRIS-APEX will arrive at the asteroid on April 13, 2029, and operate in its proximity for about the next 18 months. In addition to studying changes to Apophis caused by its Earth encounter, the spacecraft will conduct many of the same investigations OSIRIS-REx did at Bennu, including using its instrument suite of imagers, spectrometers, and a laser altimeter to closely map the surface and analyze its chemical makeup.

As an encore, OSIRIS-APEX will reprise one of OSIRIS-REx’s most impressive acts (minus sample collection), dipping within 16 feet of the asteroid’s surface and firing its thrusters downward. This maneuver will stir up surface rocks and dust to give scientists a peek at the material that lies below.

Although the rendezvous with Apophis is more than five years away, the next milestone on its journey is the first of six close Sun passes. Those near approaches, along with three gravity assists from Earth, will put OSIRIS-APEX on course to reach Apophis in April 2029.

What OSIRIS-APEX will discover about Apophis remains to be seen, but if the mission’s previous incarnation is any indication, surprising science lies ahead. “We learned a lot at Bennu, but now we’re armed with even more questions for our next target,” Simon said.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-APEX. Dani Mendoza DellaGiustina of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. The university leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft. International partnerships on this mission include the spacecraft’s laser altimeter instrument from CSA (the Canadian Space Agency) and science collaboration with JAXA’s (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. OSIRIS-APEX (previously named OSIRIS-REx) is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : SciTechDaily – https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-daring-mission-to-intercept-the-god-of-chaos-asteroid-as-it-closes-in-on-earth/

Tags: DaringNASA’sscience
Previous Post

Illuminating the Future: How LED Lights Could Revolutionize Internet and Data Transmission

Next Post

Unearthed in Ancient Text: The Lost Earthquake of 15th Century Italy

PFAS in East Selah drinking water – Washington State Department of Ecology (.gov)

Alarming PFAS Contamination Discovered in East Selah Drinking Water

October 1, 2025
Science Expo – Northern Public Radio

Discover the Wonders of Science at the Exciting Expo!

October 1, 2025
Science and artificial intelligence could help personalize brain stimulation for smokers – News-Medical

How Science and AI Are Transforming Personalized Brain Stimulation to Help Smokers Quit

October 1, 2025
Review: What’s good at new prime-cuts steakhouse in Virginia Beach – Yahoo

Review: What’s good at new prime-cuts steakhouse in Virginia Beach – Yahoo

October 1, 2025
STELLA Automotive AI Appoints Fred Seidelman as Chief Technology Officer – Yahoo Finance

STELLA Automotive AI Appoints Fred Seidelman as New Chief Technology Officer

October 1, 2025
Sports Illustrated’s Men’s College Basketball Preseason Top 25 – Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated’s Men’s College Basketball Preseason Top 25 – Sports Illustrated

October 1, 2025
Milan Fashion Week Asks the Question: Is It the Best-Dressed City in The World? – The New York Times

Milan Fashion Week Asks the Question: Is It the Best-Dressed City in The World? – The New York Times

October 1, 2025
How a government shutdown would impact the economy – CBS News

How a Government Shutdown Could Impact the Economy

October 1, 2025
Penn State-Themed Restaurant and Entertainment Spot Happy Valley Live Set to Open in State College – StateCollege.com

Penn State-Themed Restaurant and Entertainment Spot Happy Valley Live Set to Open in State College – StateCollege.com

October 1, 2025

Teresa Nicholson Celebrated as Pardee Hospital’s Teammate of the Year

September 30, 2025

Categories

Archives

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (845)
  • Economy (865)
  • Entertainment (21,740)
  • General (17,342)
  • Health (9,909)
  • Lifestyle (879)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (868)
  • Politics (876)
  • Science (16,076)
  • Sports (21,366)
  • Technology (15,849)
  • World (848)

Recent News

PFAS in East Selah drinking water – Washington State Department of Ecology (.gov)

Alarming PFAS Contamination Discovered in East Selah Drinking Water

October 1, 2025
Science Expo – Northern Public Radio

Discover the Wonders of Science at the Exciting Expo!

October 1, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version