Ramses is on a mission to study a phenomenon that only occurs once in thousands of years

Ramses is on a mission to study a phenomenon that only occurs once in thousands of years

 The European "Ramses" space probe will head towards the "Apophis" asteroid, which is supposed to approach Earth in 2029, to study how Earth's gravity affects its behavior, according to what the European Space Agency announced on Tuesday.

The Apophis Rapid Space Safety (RAMSES) mission plans to rendezvous, at a good distance, with the asteroid, which has a diameter of about 375 metres. Astronomers have ruled out any possibility of Apophis colliding with Earth during the next hundred years.

It is expected to pass 32,000 kilometers from Earth on April 13, 2029, and will briefly be visible to the naked eye to about two billion people in Europe, Africa, and countries in Asia, according to a statement by the European Space Agency.

But the passage of an asteroid close to Earth's orbit is an exceptional event, according to astronomers, and only happens once every 5 or 10 thousand years. Ramses is scheduled to be launched in April 2028 before arriving at Apophis in February 2029, that is, two months before the asteroid approaches Earth.

Among what the probe's tools will study is the shape of the asteroid, its surface, and the effect of Earth's gravity on it. The statement quoted Patrick Michel, director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Côte d'Azur Observatory who specializes in these celestial bodies, as saying, "We still have a lot to learn about asteroids."

He added: "It is enough to determine how Apophis was attracted by enormous tidal forces, which could lead to collapses and other phenomena and reveal new materials beneath its surface." An official decision to launch the mission is expected to be issued by the ESA Ministerial Council during November 2025.