NASA is considering a last-minute mission to send a pair of identical probes, Janus, to study asteroid Apophis. The close flyby will take place on April 13, 2029, at a distance of 32,000 km from Earth.
Janus was originally designed to study asteroids but was left idle due to a postponed launch date. Now, scientists want to repurpose the probes for the Apophis mission. This would be a unique event as approaches with large objects occur only once every few thousand years.
However, NASA’s current budget is not in favor of funding this mission, ruling out other alternative concepts. Janus remains in storage until there is money in the budget or another party funds it.
Other space agencies, like ESA and Japan’s aerospace agency, also have plans to study Apophis. The ESA is developing the RAMSES mission, while Japan’s DESTINY+ mission is postponed but may include an Apophis flyby in its program.
Source: https://universemagazine.com/en/scientists-urged-nasa-to-send-stored-janus-probes-to-asteroid-apophis