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.

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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