What is the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES)?

About Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES):

• It is a planetary defence mission of the European Space Agency (ESA).
• It will intercept the asteroid 99942 Apophis and accompany it through its safe but exceptionally close flyby of Earth in 2029.
  • Roughly 375 m across, Apophis will pass within 32,000 km from Earth's surface on 13 April, 2029. 
  • It will be the closest approach of an asteroid of this size that humankind has ever known about in advance.
  • For a short time, Apophis will be visible to the naked eye in clear, dark skies for about 2 billion people across much of Europe, and Africa, and parts of Asia.
  • Apophis will miss Earth. Astronomers have ruled out any chance that the asteroid will collide with our planet for at least the next 100 years.
  • But the Apophis flyby in April 2029 is an extremely rare natural phenomenon.
• Researchers will study the asteroid as Earth's gravity alters its physical characteristics.
• Their findings will improve our ability to defend our planet from any similar object found to be on a collision course in the future.
• RAMSES will work in synergy with the NASA mission OSIRIS-APEX that will arrive at Apophis a few days after the closest approach of the asteroid to the Earth, allowing a comparison of the asteroid properties measured by the two missions.