CNN —After successfully delivering NASA’s first asteroid sample collected in space, the OSIRIS-REx mission, now renamed OSIRIS-APEX, is embarking on a new journey — this time to study an asteroid that will closely approach Earth in just a few years.
The asteroid was named for the Egyptian god of chaos and darkness and is believed to be shaped like a peanut.
An artist's rendering shows OSIRIS-APEX kicking up dust so it can study Apophis.
What Apophis could revealApophis is of interest because it’s an S-type, or stony, asteroid, in contrast to Bennu, which is a C-type, or carbonaceous, asteroid.
The spacecraft’s ability to closely orbit the asteroid can reveal the surface strength of stony asteroids and how much weathering the asteroid endures in the space environment.
Persons:
CNN —, NASA’s, REx, OSIRIS, ”, Dani DellaGiustina, APEX's, Heather Roper, Dante Lauretta, ” Lauretta, “
Organizations:
CNN, APEX, University of Arizona, Space Center, NASA, “, NASA’s Center
Locations:
NASA’s, Houston, Europe, Africa