To prevent a fate similar to the dinosaurs, The European Space Agency (ESA) has initiated work on a groundbreaking planetary defense mission known as the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Security (RAMSES).
RAMSES is designed to rendezvous with 99942 Apophis, an asteroid the size of a cruise ship, and accompany it as it approaches Earth in April 2029.
Apophis, with a diameter of about 375 meters, will pass within 32,000 kilometers of Earth’s surface on April 13, 2029. This rare event will be visible to the naked eye in parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia, attracting global attention. An asteroid of this size only comes this close once every 5,000 to 10,000 years.
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Astronomers believe that Apophis is unlikely to collide with Earth in the next 100 years, but the 2029 flyby will provide scientists with a unique opportunity to observe a close encounter.
The ESA’s Ramses spacecraft is set to reach Apophis two months before the closest approach, allowing monitoring of any physical changes to the asteroid caused by Earth’s gravity.
Ramses is scheduled to launch in April 2028 and arrive at Apophis by February 2029. The mission aims to observe and study how Earth’s gravity affects Apophis, potential landslides, and any new material beneath the asteroid’s surface.
Patrick MichelGerry McClellan, CNRS Director of Research at the Observatory of the Côte d’Azur, emphasized the significance of the mission, stating: “There is much we still don’t know about asteroids, but now, nature is bringing one to us to conduct the experiment itself. All we need to do is watch as Apophis is stretched and compressed by powerful tidal forces.”
Ramses will utilize a variety of scientific instruments to comprehensively study Apophis, analyzing its shape, surface, orbit, rotation, and more.
The collected data will be closely examined by scientists to understand the asteroid’s composition, structure, and how to deflect potentially hazardous asteroids in the future.
Experts predict that Earth’s tidal forces could alter the asteroid’s rotation, potentially causing earthquakes and landslides. They hope that Ramses’ flyby will offer detailed observations of how Apophis is affected by the close encounter.
Additionally, NASA is redirecting its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft (now renamed OSIRIS-APEX) towards Apophis, set to arrive about a month after the 2029 flyby.
OSIRIS-REx was the first US mission to collect samples from an asteroid, returning material from Bennu to Earth in September 2023. After successfully delivering the sample, the spacecraft was renamed OSIRIS-APEX for its new mission to explore Apophis.
“Ramses will demonstrate humanity’s capability to deploy a reconnaissance mission to rendezvous with an approaching asteroid in just a few years,” said Richard Moisle, head of ESA’s Planetary Defence Division.
A decision on the full implementation of Ramses will be made at ESA’s Ministerial Council meeting in November 2025. If approved, Ramses will not only enhance knowledge of asteroid deflection but also provide valuable scientific insights into the solar system’s formation and evolution.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
