The Osiris Rex probe will send a capsule of Bennu samples to Earth on Sunday, but it will not finish its “work” but begin a new six-year mission that will end very close to Earth. The target is Apophis, an asteroid with a long history. Much has been written about Apophis and exaggerated that it could wreak havoc in 2029 or 2068, but that is not possible.

Osiris comes from Bennu and goes on a long journey again

20 minutes after the release of the capsule with samples delivered from 2 billion km from the asteroid Bennu, the probe Osiris Rex will fire engines to change the trajectory, and the name of the mission will change to OSIRIS-APEX (OSIRIS – Apophis Explorer). The probe can complete one more space mission because it has plenty of fuel left.

The goal is to fly as close as possible to the asteroid Apophis, which in 2029 will reach only 32,000 km from Earth. The probe will make a very long orbit, but will approach Apophis when the asteroid is very close to Earth in six years.

The Osiris Rex probe will not collide with Apophis, but will approach it as close as possible and observe with its instruments to see what changes occur on the surface of the asteroid when it is so close to Earth. An attempt will be made to use the probe’s engines to drop small amounts of dust and pebbles from the surface of Apophis so that they can then be studied. There are no plans to deliver its samples to Earth.

Apophis, an asteroid that will not destroy the Earth

The dreaded Apophis, an asteroid named after the Egyptian god of evil and destruction, will not pose any danger of colliding with Earth for at least 100 years, NASA and the European Space Agency announced in March 2021, which they also ruled out. list of asteroid risks that could collide with our planet.

This asteroid caused a stir after scientists announced its discovery in 2004 because there was a small risk that this huge space boulder would collide with Earth in 2029. Later, after analyzing the trajectory of this asteroid, researchers came to the conclusion that we do NOT have one. cause for concern, at least for now.

The asteroid has a diameter of 340-370 m, which is larger than three football fields.

At the time, the distant year 2068 was called the time that could put us in danger, but the ESA explained that the latest calculations show not only that the year 2068 will not pose any danger, but that Apophis will not be able to collide with Earth for at least 100 years. Undoubtedly, by 2121, new calculations will be made and complex methods of changing the trajectory of asteroids will start working.

This concern, which arose as a result of the first observations of the asteroid, led to the choice of the name Apophis – a serpent demon from Egyptian mythology who embodies evil and chaos.