NASA experts are ramping up efforts for a highly anticipated astronomical event: the April 13, 2029 close encounter of the colossal Apophis asteroid, which is set to fly by within a mere 20,000 miles of our planet—closer than numerous active satellites and well within the Moon's orbit. The agency's OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft is being prepared to meet the 1,200-foot-wide asteroid to analyze the influence of Earth's gravitational pull on its path during the flyby. Researchers caution that if the 2029 encounter alters Apophis's course into a gravitational keyhole, an eventual collision with Earth could become a statistical reality. The asteroid will be visible to the naked eye throughout North America, including all Atlantic coastal states, marking the closest approach of a substantial asteroid ever documented. NASA's planetary defense team has identified this object as the top-priority near-Earth threat currently under observation.
