Twenty years from now, on April 13th, 2029, asteroid Apophis will buzz Earth only 18,300 miles above the planet's surface--well inside the belt of geosynchronous communications satellites. At closest approach, the 300-meter-wide asteroid will shine like a 3rd magnitude star, visible to the unaided eye from cities in Africa, Europe and Asia. There is a small chance (1 in 45,000) that the 2029 encounter will bend the asteroid's orbit so that it returns to Earth and actually hits the planet on April 13th, 2036. Experts believe that future observations will probably rule out a collision. Nevertheless, NASA and others are thinking about asteroid deflection strategies ... just in case.
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