Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES)

Summary: The European Space Agency's RAMSES mission aims to explore asteroid Apophis during its 2029 close approach to Earth, in collaboration with NASA's Osiris-Apex. Apophis, a large near-Earth object discovered in 2004, will pass safely near Earth, providing a rare chance to study asteroids’ impacts on planetary safety. These missions will examine Apophis's structure and orbit, contributing valuable data for asteroid deflection techniques, potentially crucial for future defense. The project’s Egyptian mythology-inspired naming underscores humanity’s efforts to overcome cosmic threats.