ESA And JAXA's Planetary Defense Mission Powers On For The First Time

There’s a once-in-a-millennia astronomical opportunity coming up in about three years, and space agencies are rushing to make sure they’re ready for it. On Friday April 13th, 2029, the asteroid 99942 Apophis will fly within 32,000km of the Earth’s surface. The cruise liner sized piece of rock won’t hit us, but it should put on a great show, and, given the date it will pass by, is sure to cause panic amongst some parts of western civilization. One of the missions planned to watch this historic event (and hopefully alleviate some people’s fears) - ESA and JAXA’s Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) - has just passed a successful development milestone - turning on its computer for the first time.