RAMSES reaches Apophis around March 1, 2029, when the asteroid is still 14.9 million miles from Earth.

* Assuming Apophis will NOT hit Earth on April 13th, 2029,

Then this information may be relevant.

***

WRITER = David Dickinson

Source = https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/europes-ramses-mission-to-asteroid-apophis-moves-ahead/

Visibility prospects for Apophis during its flyby may be worthy of a road trip:
Apophis will appear as a 3rd-magnitude star moving across the sky from Europe, Africa, and western Asia.

I remember going to an astronomy club meeting way in 2004, back when the asteroid later named 99942 Apophis was discovered.
We all had a good laugh at the irony that a potential city-killer asteroid would visit Earth on the far-off date of April 2029 — on Friday the 13th.

Fast forward, and that date is now mere years away. Fortunately, we now know Apophis poses no risk to Earth.
The space rock, which measures 450 by 170 meters (1,500 by 560 feet) only briefly rose to first rank on the Torino Scale, which measures objects' potential for hazardous impact.
Further observations refining its orbit later ruled out any chance for Earth impact.
But it'll still be a super-close pass, coming within 32,000 kilometers (20,000 miles) of Earth's surface, and several missions are being planned to take advantage of that close approach.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has just green-lighted its Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES),
which will rendezvous with and explore asteroid Apophis just before its close encounter with Earth.
The mission is part of ESA's planetary defense initiative, which seeks to study and characterize near-Earth asteroids.

ESA is working with OHB Italia, a space company that contracts with the Italian Space Agency.
ESA has awarded OHB Italia a total of $177 million for the design and construction of the mission.

The mission just concluded its critical design review earlier this month on February 6th.
"Passing the Critical Design Review in record time gives us full confidence that RAMSES' design is mature, robust and ready to be built,"
says Paolo Martino (ESA-Ramses Mission Manger) in a recent press release.
Successfully maintaining the mission's accelerated pace
is an endorsement of the team's commitment and engineering vision under a very demanding schedule."

RAMSES will launch aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.
Japan is also contributing a thermal imaging instrument and solar arrays to power RAMSES.

The mission will rideshare with DESTINY+, Japan's mission to the "rock-comet" 3200 Phaethon, the source of the Geminid meteor shower.
Before heading to its ultimate destination, DESTINY+ will fly by and image Apophis.
It may well return the first images of Apophis up close, prior to RAMSES' arrival.

NASA also has an Apophis-bound mission:
Following a successful mission to the asteroid 101955 Bennu,
OSIRIS-REX was repurposed and renamed OSIRIS-APEX (Apophis Explorer).
APEX will catch up to Apophis just after its brush with Earth,
and it will even land on the asteroid to better understand its surface.

Timeline to Launch and Intercept

The journey RAMSES takes to Apophis will begin with its launch in April 2028, about a year prior to Apophis's closest approach. 

A direct transfer trajectory will see RAMSES reach Apophis around March 1, 2029, when the asteroid is still 14.9 million miles from Earth.
As the spacecraft flies around the asteroid, the mission team aims to image selected areas down to about 1.5 centimeter in resolution.

RAMSES will carry eight science instruments, several of which are similar to instruments aboard
ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) as well as aboard Hera, now en route to the asteroid 65803 Didymos.

Timeline to Launch and Intercept

The journey RAMSES takes to Apophis will begin with its launch in April 2028, about a year prior to Apophis's closest approach.
A direct transfer trajectory will see RAMSES reach Apophis around March 1, 2029, when the asteroid is still 14.9 million miles from Earth.
As the spacecraft flies around the asteroid, the mission team aims to image selected areas down to about 1.5 centimeter in resolution.

RAMSES will carry eight science instruments, several of which are similar to instruments aboard ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)
as well as aboard Hera, now en route to the asteroid 65803 Didymos.

There are no current plans for the RAMSES mission after its Apophis flyby, though the possibility of sending it on to another target exists if the mission and spacecraft are in good health.

As RAMSES and its rideshares show the surface of Apophis, perhaps we'll see in the background our Earth, as it slides safely by. 

RAMSES will be a fascinating mission to watch and will provide a vital look at a near-Earth asteroid close up,
should we ever have to move one out of the way.

* WRITER = David Dickinson is a freelance science writer, high school science teacher, retired enlisted U.S. Air Force veteran and avid stargazer.
He currently resides with his wife Myscha in Bristol, Tennessee.
David also writes science fiction in his spare time.
He posts as @AstroDave on BlueSky about space news and sky-watching worldwide.