Korea wants to land on a 340m wide asteroid

Taking the opportunity of Apophis to come close to Earth in 2029, experts will launch ships to approach this asteroid, even taking samples to bring back.

Korean scientists plan to land on 99942 Apophis, an asteroid the size of a stadium, when it comes close to Earth on April 13, 2029 and then returns the sample, Cnet on December 7 news. Specifically, this asteroid about 340 m in diameter will come only 32,000 km from Earth, which is extremely rare for such a large object.

Simulation of an asteroid flying close to Earth.

Apophis is classified as "potentially dangerous" due to its proximity and large size. Earlier this year, NASA ruled out the possibility of this asteroid colliding with Earth when it flew closer than even large communication satellites in geostationary orbit.

The plan of the Korean team of experts is to reach Apophis in January 2029, before it comes close to Earth. The spacecraft launched into space from the end of 2027 will accompany Apophis. The spacecraft will observe and map the asteroid along its way to detect structural changes (if any) caused by its approach to Earth and the influence of gravity.

"When gravity has the strongest impact on Apophis, I think we will have real-time data from the asteroid, for example earthquakes or landslides happening on it," said Young-Jun Choi, expert. from the Korea Institute of Space Science and Astronomy, said. Choi also mentioned the possibility of landing on Apophis and bringing samples back to Earth, similar to the Hayabusa (Japan) and Osiris-Rex (USA) missions.

At a 2020 conference on Apophis and the 2029 approach, a team of Korean experts said that the mission to Apophis helps fill a gap in scientific knowledge about the effects of gravity. This can be used for defense when a real threat occurs to Earth.

Earlier this year, NASA assessed Apophis' 2029 approach as an unprecedented opportunity for astronomers to take a close look at a remnant of the solar system. The opportunity to study such a large asteroid at close range is really rare, Choi said. He estimates similar approaches happen only once in 20,000 years.