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Original story belowUpdate, Dec. 25, 9:47 p.m. ET: The risk of an impact by asteroid 2004 MN4 went up slightly on Saturday, Dec. 25. It is now pegged at having a 1-in -45 chance of striking the planet on April 13, 2029. That's up from 1-in-63 late on Dec. 24, and 1-in-300 early on Dec. 24. Astronomers still stress that it is very likely the risk will be reduced to zero with further observations. And even as it stands with present knowledge, the chances are 97.8 percent the rock will miss Earth.Update, Dec. 24, 10:19 p.m. ET: An asteroid that...

A very interesting space mission that is at the same time kind of frightening: A NASA spacecraft that recently returned from deep space has been relaunched for a mission to study the "God of Chaos" asteroid as it begins to near Earth's orbit. The agency's spacecraft OSIRIS-REx — now named the OSIRIS-APEX — has been sent off to study the asteroid Apophis' extremely close flyby of Earth in 2029, the likes of which "hasn't happened since the dawn of recorded history," NASA announced. Oh really, an asteroid is making an "extremely close flyby" of our fragile planet in 5ish years?...

Apophis will still pass by the Earth in 2029 – specifically on April 13 – at a distance less than 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) from the Earth's surface. The massive asteroid known as 99942 Apophis was once considered among the most dangerous asteroid in space, with the potential to strike Earth very high. When it was discovered, the 370-meter asteroid's trajectory towards the planet made many fear that an impact could actually happen. Ultimately, however, this situation now seems unlikely thanks to additional data gathered by astronomers. As such, NASA has declared the planet free of risk from any asteroid...

Only a small handful of objects are known to pose a serious threat to Earth, and the gigantic asteroid Apophis is one of them. Scientists are now re-evaluating its potential to strike our planet in 48 years, owing to improved observations of the problematic asteroid. Observations made earlier this year from the Subaru Telescope in Hawai’i are providing astronomers with a better sense of how the Yarkovsky effect is influencing the orbital path of asteroid 99942 Apophis. This effect is like a built-in propulsion system for asteroids, in which trace amounts of leaking radiation can alter an object’s momentum in...

Friday the 13th of April 2029 could be a very unlucky day for planet Earth. At 4:36 am Greenwich Mean Time, a 25-million-ton, 820-ft.-wide asteroid called 99942 Apophis will slice across the orbit of the moon and barrel toward Earth at more than 28,000 mph. The huge pockmarked rock, two-thirds the size of Devils Tower in Wyoming, will pack the energy of 65,000 Hiroshima bombs -- enough to wipe out a small country or kick up an 800-ft. tsunami. On this day, however, Apophis is not expected to live up to its namesake, the ancient Egyptian god of darkness and...

According to the provided article, asteroid 99942 Apophis has a 1 in 40 chance of hitting earth in 2029. If it misses in 2029, it would have an even higher chance of hitting in 2036. According to NASA and other reputable sources the asteroid is of 370 meters in diameter which is about the size of the Eiffel Tower. When you plug this into a simulation like the asteroid collision map, you can see that its large magnitude can cause some pretty serious damages depending on the location it impacts. According to the simulation, some of these effects are earthquakes,...

— Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, tweeted that a "big rock" is going to hit Earth, and that we "currently have no defense." But NASA, seems to disagree. Musk's tweet was a response to another by comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan, who shared an article reporting that NASA has begun preparations for the 1,100-foot-wide asteroid Apophis, which is scheduled to pass by Earth on April 13, 2029. Apophis named after an Egyptian god of death. Musk isn't wrong when he tweeted "Wouldn't worry about this particular one," though. Apophis is going to miss us by 19,000 miles. It's...

On April 13, 2029, a 1,110-foot-wide asteroid known as 99942 Apophis will speed past our planet at an estimated distance of around 19,000 miles, potentially coming closer to the surface than some orbiting spacecraft. Despite being a decade away, this future close encounter is causing quite a stir within the asteroid research community. So much so that it is the focus of a session Tuesday at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in College Park, Maryland, during which scientists will discuss everything from potential observation strategies to hypothetical missions that could explore the object itself. On the day of the close...

A MASSIVE asteroid that could have destroyed New York City skimmed past Earth – and NASA had no clue. The large space rock – dubbed 2017 VL2 – passed the planet on November 9 at an astonishing distance of just 73,000 miles, which is considered tiny in space terms. Space boffins think that if the rock measuring between 16 and 32 metres had hit, it could’ve wiped a major city such as New York off the map. The rock belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and was first seen at ATLAS-MLO observatory in Hawaii a day later. It was...