That Robin Andrews is a busy writer:
April 16, 2025 Robin George Andrews www.newscientist.com/article/2476805-the-race-to-visit-the-asteroid-making-the-closest-pass-by-earth/
Asteroid (99942) Apophis was, a generation ago, calculated to have a slight chance of hitting Earth, in 2029. At under a kilometer in size, it would be quite the damage risk. As astronomers put more decimal places on their orbit determination for it, the risk (as it tends to do) peaked, then fell, and finally reached zero. It will glide by Earth on April 13, 2029, though it will pass within our ring of geostationary comsats.
Even though Apophis is no actual threat, a kilometer-scale asteroid is of scientific interest; having one pass us this close is a once-in-a-millenium type event. Heck, you can even see Apophis pass us with naked eyes, if you’re in European/African longitudes. Rather than miss this chance, we (mankind) are dedicating telescope time, and sending probes. NASA has redirected the former OSIRIS-REx spacecraft (now on its OSIRIS-APEX extended mission, for “APophis EXplorer”); ESA is (unofficially, for now) building the RAMSES spacecraft (Rapid Apophis Mission for SpacE Safety). RAMSES is largely a rebuild of Hera, which itself resembles previous ESA probes. Given the short timelines, there may be other missions built on NewSpace principles, by leaner organizations. Andrews takes us through the builds.