An Exceedingly Rare Asteroid Flyby Will Happen Soon, But NASA May Be Left On The Sidelines *

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The near miss by the large Apophis asteroid in April 2029 offers NASA a golden—and exceedingly rare—opportunity to observe such an object like this up close. Critically, the interaction between Apophis and Earth's gravitational pull will offer scientists an unprecedented chance to study the interior of an asteroid.

This is fascinating for planetary science, but it also has serious implications for planetary defense. In the future, were such an asteroid on course to strike Earth, an effective plan to deflect it would depend on knowing what the interior looks like.

Other choices, including dragging dual space probes out of storage, the Janus spacecraft, and other concepts that were submitted to NASA a year ago as part of a call for ideas, have already been rejected or simply left on the table.

As a result, NASA currently has no plans to study what will be the most important asteroid encounter since the formation of the space agency.

"The world is watching," said Richard Binzel, an asteroid expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "NASA needs to step up and do their job."