Russia plans to send a satellite with a radio beacon to near-Earth asteroid of 99942 Apophis for finding out how big is a threat of its collision with Earth, the country’s Academy of Sciences said in its report on 7 April.
The asteroid is considered by the Russian scientists as the most serious threat to Earth as for now.
In 2029, Apophis will be at a distance of only about 36,000 miles to our planet, at the height of the orbits of geostationary satellites. The asteroid could change its orbit and cannon Earth in 2036.
The core target of the possible mission will be to clarify the exact trajectory of Apophis for up to 2036. The satellite will be equipped with a radioisotope power source with a buffer battery.
“From technical point of view the mission could be started for implementation from 2015,” the Academy said in the report.
