'God of chaos' asteroid is larger than Eiffel Tower and set to pass 'exceptionally close' to Earth

A colossal asteroid known as 99942 Apophis, dubbed the "God of chaos" and towering over the Eiffel Tower, is on track for an " exceptionally close " flyby of Earth in 2029. Should it smash into our world, it would cause catastrophic consequences.

This space rock is set to skim closer than the geostationary satellites that keep our TVs, sat-navs, and weather services running, with no other known asteroid due for thousands of years. Mark your calendars for Friday, April 13, 2029, for its anticipated close shave with Earth.

But hold off on any end-of-the-world preparations for now, reports the Express . Experts at the European Space Agency (ESA) are gearing up to keep a watchful eye on Apophis.

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Hot on the heels of NASA's successful DART mission last year, the ESA is ramping up efforts to bolster Earth's defences against these devastating cosmic boulder s. The big question for scientists is how our planet's gravity will influence the asteroid as it whizzes by.

Enter the new Rapid Apophis Mission for Security and Safety (RAMSES), dispatching a probe to check on the asteroid a couple of months before it brushes past Earth. Richard Moissl, the chief of ESA's Planetary Defence Office, has hailed the mission as "a cornerstone of humankind's response to a hazardous asteroid".

During its mission, the spacecraft will snag details on Apophis' dimensions, weight, rotation, and trajectory through the cosmos. The ESA shared: "These are all very important properties for assessing how best to knock a hazardous asteroid off a collision course with Earth."

They've scheduled Ramses to set off in April 2028 so it can meet Apophis by February 2029. Over at The Open University, Professor Monica Grady conveyed to The Guardian that a space rock the likes of Apophis could well have signalled the demise of the dinosaurs.

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She expressed her concerns, noting: "[Asteroids] come near the Earth, and there's potential that one day one of them will hit the Earth and cause a major disaster. We believe this happened 65m years ago when the dinosaurs were all wiped out."

She warned about the catastrophic impact of such events, saying: "And if it's a big asteroid and it hits us, it'll be a catastrophe which will destroy humanity."

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