NASA’s spacecraft is relentless: After Bennu, its next mission is Apophis!

Ömer

September 27, 2023

The whole world is celebrating the great success of NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission. Recently, the spacecraft managed to take pieces of the Bennu asteroid and deliver them to Earth. Everyone’s eyes were on this capsule that would illuminate the mysteries of the universe. The O-Rex spacecraft, the hero of this mission, completed its mission and quietly set off for its new target, the Apophis Asteroid.

NASA’s spacecraft is on its way to its new mission, the Apophis Asteroid!

The OSIRIS-Rex asteroid transportation mission will not be limited to the Bennu Asteroid. The 7-year-old spacecraft will continue its mission without slowing down. It managed to deliver pieces of the Bennu Asteroid to Earth last Sunday. It released the capsule containing the samples it collected 63,000 miles above the Earth. About 20 minutes later, it fired its thrusters to avoid entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Quietly, it set off on its new mission.

The Apophis Asteroid is now the new destination for NASA’s spacecraft. It will conduct investigations on the Apophis Asteroid, which scientists fear could hit Earth in the future. It will collect samples. In this way, scientists will open the mysterious dark curtain of the universe. If all goes well, the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft will reach Apophis, a rocky asteroid close to Earth, in 2029. It will then need a new mission name. The new mission name is OSIRIS-APEX.

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Apophis has an eerie reputation for Earth. NASA discovered the Apophis asteroid in 2004. It also identified Apophis as one of the most dangerous asteroids that could impact Earth. It was named after the demon serpent that personified evil and chaos in ancient Egyptian mythology after its notoriously bad reputation worried people.

With the possibility of it hitting the Earth, its reputation spread fear across the globe. However, this impact assessment changed after astronomers tracked and observed the behavior of this asteroid.

Following observations and precise orbit analysis carried out in March 2021, astronomers have declared that Apophis is no danger to our planet for at least a century.

“With the support of recent optical observations and additional radar observations, the uncertainty in Apophis’ orbit has decreased to just a few kilometers from hundreds of kilometers when it was projected to 2029,” the scientists said.