Asteroid Apophis Is Coming Back And NASA Has a Risky Plan

The infamous asteroid Apophis is coming back. In 2029, it will pass just 32,000 kilometers from our planet. In doing so, the asteroid will swoop below the orbits of geostationary satellites. As a result, it will appear as bright as a satellite, becoming visible to billions of naked-eye observers across the globe. Such encounters are believed to occur only once every few thousand years, and astronomers do not want to miss this opportunity. So they have proposed possible missions to explore Apophis on or around its passage in 2029.

And one of them is the OSIRIS-Rex mission!

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[Kristian-liuk]

The Chicxulub impact was created by a 10 to 15 km wide asteroid. Aphophis is 300 m (0, 3 km) wide, so even if it can do serious damage, it will not be comparable with the Chicxulub event.

[LetsPlayArcanium]

This is exactly why countries need to set aside their bs and work together when we have things from space to worry about

[thomasklugh]

Yes, it's supposed to make a fly-by in 2029. But about ten years ago I also read that after it leaves our orbit and goes on its path around the sun, it will return in 2035 or 2036 and possibly come even closer. I think this is the same asteroid I read about. Something to think about.

[tats_sacs]

I love how they depict asteroid belts in everything. Like it’s a dense area of rocks so close to each other.
While in reality, you could hardly see it because they are so far apart. It’s like looking at a bunch of cars a hundred miles apart. You won’t see the next one if you’re on it.

[asmongoldsmouth]

To give some insight on how far from Earth this asteroid flies by I've given a better idea below:
Earth's diameter (width) is - 12, 742 Km
So the asteroid flies by Earth with enough space to fit 2 and a half more Earths in the gap between it and us.

Yes, it's a NEO. But that is still not as bad as it sounds. I am not discrediting it's potential threat. But I just wanted to clear up the actual concept of how close it will get.

[KALOSMYTH]

Damn, I remember talking about this asteroid with my dad when I was like 7 - my dad is a astrophysicist fanatic and so he even named our wifi server name Apophis. He told me if there were to be an asteroid that ever hits us it would be this one. I’m 21 now

[gypsyjengypsydogs]

Didn't y'all wonder why the DART mission was so widely publicised? They are preparing us.

[jeninlight]

Apophis is like “with a name like that I gotta try again!”

[jasonm]

It will be a blessing when something catastrophic happens to earth. People need a wake up call.

[toothlessseer]

It seems likely that landing on the asteroid or even flying next to it can change its orbit slightly. Which could be enough to make it hit the earth!

[Tsgunners]

It will hit us but no one wants to tell us that so we don’t spend the time we have left panicking. They’ve been trying to work on ways to deflect it away from us but yet haven’t been able to work it out yet

[Acuas]

The funny thing about this, is that if an asteroid big enough to be a problem was about to hit earth, we don't have a way to defend ourself, so that would literally mean mass extinction, and they would never make that public, so if sometime it's going to happen, no one will ever know until it's probably very close to happen.

[rustinpeace]

There's a thing called a gravitational keyhole, which if it grabs apophis in 2029, it could force its orbit closer to the earth in 2036. This is the reason for the DART mission.

[theBraveLilToast]

I think we disserve whatever comes our way.

[rexdenemo]

The Osiris Rex Mission ought to 'connect' with Apophis, after the flyby on April 13, 2029, when it's orbit is thoroughly understood. We would not want it to become a gravity tractor by mistake, steering Apophis into our planet. It would be nice to place multiple homing beacons on Apophis so that we would always know, pretty much where it is, and what it's doing. If Apophis ever does impact the earth, it will excavate a crater about 4 miles wide, and about a mile deep, in less than three seconds. It will be a "Nation Killer" Impact Event where ever it comes down. Very respectfully, R. Rex De Nemo.

[ShohagBiswas]

One of the channels that don't make click-bait BS. Thanks for the video.

[scruffybearbreaks]

About a decade ago, national geographic printed an article about an asteroid that will narrowly miss the earth in 2029 but slingshot around our sun and actually hit the earth in 2032. I assume this is the asteroid mentioned in that article.

[rickpontificates]

An asteroid lurking "in space"... that's like saying, there's clothes lurking in my closet. I'm pretty sure asteroids are ALWAYS in space

[miligrams]

there's already things in the making to try and counter asteroids whether it be heavy satellites to interfere with their orbit or just straight on collisions. I hope these will be developed even further so our safety is guaranteed.

[scottbrettschneider]

2004 BN4 is approximately 7% the size of the Chicxulub impactor, far closer in size to that of the Tunguska impactor.