According to the ESA’s Near-Earth Objects Coordination Center (NEOCC), 35,264 known asteroids regularly cross the orbit of Earth and the other inner planets. Of these, 1,626 have been identified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs), meaning that they may someday pass close enough to Earth to be caught by its gravity and impact its surface. While planetary defense has always been a concern, the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slamming into Jupiter in 1994 sparked intense interest in this field. In 2022, NASA’s Double-Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission successfully tested the kinetic impact method when it collided with Dimorphos, the small asteroid orbiting Didymos. Today, the ESA Space Safety program is taking steps to test the next planetary defense mission – the Rapid Apophis Missin for Space Safety (RAMSES). In 2029, RAMSES will rendezvous with the Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) 99942 Apophis and accompany it as it makes a very close (but safe) flyby of Earth in 2029. The data it collects will help scientists improve our ability to protect Earth from similar objects that could pose an impact risk. Discovered in 2004, Apophis is an irregularly shaped asteroid measuring about 375 m (410 yards) across. At the time, observations indicated there was a small risk that it would impact Earth in 2029, 2036, or 2068. Given its size and the devastating effect an impact would have, astronomers decided to name it after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction. While astronomers have since ruled out the possibility of a collision for at least the next century, Apophis will pass within 32,000 km (~19,885 mi) of Earth’s surface on April 13th, 2029. Radar observations of Apophis rule out future impact. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech and NSF/AUI/GBO At this distance, the asteroid will be close enough to be visible to the naked eye to roughly two billion people across much of Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia. Based on analyses of the size and orbits of all known asteroids, astronomers believe that objects this large pass this close to Earth only once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. The RAMSES spacecraft will rendezvous with Apophis before it makes its closest pass to Earth and follow behind, monitoring it with a suite of scientific instruments to see how Earth’s gravity changes it. This will consist of conducting before-and-after surveys of the asteroid’s shape, surface, orbit, rotation, and orientation. Based on this comparative analysis, scientists will learn more about how an asteroid’s fundamental characteristics – its composition, interior structure, cohesion, mass, density, and porosity – respond to external forces. These properties are vital for determining how to knock a PHA off course so it does not collide with Earth. Patrick Michel, the Director of Research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in Nice, explained in an ESA press release: “There is still so much we have yet to learn about asteroids but, until now, we have had to travel deep into the Solar System to study them and perform experiments ourselves to interact with their surface. For the first time ever, nature is bringing one to us and conducting the experiment itself. All we need to do is watch as Apophis is stretched and squeezed by strong tidal forces that may trigger landslides and other disturbances and reveal new material from beneath the surface.” The ESA recently secured permission from the Space Safety Program board to begin preparatory work on the mission so it can launch by April 2028. This deadline is necessary, so the mission is to be ready to launch and rendezvous with Apophis in orbit by February 2029. The final decision to commit to the mission will be made at the ESA’s Ministerial Council Meeting in November 2025. In the meantime, NASA has redirected its newly renamed OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft towards Apophis, which will arrive one month after the asteroid makes its flyby. Apophis orbit diverted by Earth’s gravity – NEO Toolkit Space Safety Apophis orbit diverted by Earth’s gravity, Credit: ESA Since asteroids are leftover material from the formation of the Solar System (ca. 4.5 billion years ago), this rendezvous is also an opportunity to obtain data that could provide new insights into planetary formation and evolution. This makes the 2029 flyby an extremely rare opportunity for astronomy, asteroid science, planetary defense, and for engaging billions of people worldwide. It will also be an opportunity for international collaboration, as previously demonstrated by the DART and the ESA’s Hera missions – the former redirected Didymos while the latter confirmed a change in orbit. Last, but not least, the RAMSES mission will test the ability of space agencies to build and deploy an asteroid response quickly. As Richard Moissl, heading ESA’s Planetary Defence Office, explained: “Ramses will demonstrate that humankind can deploy a reconnaissance mission to rendezvous with an incoming asteroid in just a few years. This type of mission is a cornerstone of humankind’s response to a hazardous asteroid. A reconnaissance mission would be launched first to analyse the incoming asteroid’s orbit and structure. The results would be used to determine how best to redirect the asteroid or to rule out non-impacts before an expensive deflector mission is developed.” Further Reading: ESA The post ESA is Building a Mission to Visit Asteroid Apophis, Joining it for its 2029 Earth Flyby appeared first on Universe Today.

A new hope.

The area exhibits significant cultural and ethnic diversity

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Born in Heston, Middlesex, England back in 1944, the legendary guitarist and producer Jimmy Page started his career when he was still a teenager and not much after he became one of the most respected session guitarists in England. His talent and knowledge made him first achieve success as a member of The Yardbirds and then, of course, as one of the founding members of Led Zeppelin. But the most incredible thing is that a kind of "divine intervention" made Page have his first guitar, which would be crucial for him to learn how to play. He recalled that in an interview with  Rolling Stone back in 2012. The incredible story of the first guitar Jimmy Page ever had Jimmy Page wasn't from a rich family, his father was a personnel manager at a plastic-coatings plant and his mother a doctor's secretary. So there were many things his family couldn't afford when he was younger, like going to see Buddy Holly playing live, as he recalled many times. But the interesting thing that he even said it was like a "divine intervention", was that the first guitar he ever had, which was a Spanish guitar, was simply left at a house his family moved to when he was a kid. "Getting a guitar was like dreaming about a Cadillac. It was something you would see on albums by Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly came over here (in 1958). I couldn’t afford to see him, I would have learned so much, in one evening. I did see Jerry Lee Lewis. That was tribal. He wasn’t a guitarist — he was a pianist. But it was what he represented." He continued: "I investigated biochemistry (That's what my parents wanted for me). But I had a voracious appetite for all things guitar. When we moved to Epsom, there was one in the house. It was like divine intervention. There weren’t that many guitarists in the area, but there was one guy at school who said, 'Bring it along. I’ll tune it up and show you some chords.” "I probably played three chords for the next year. I took over my parents’ living room as my music studio. At 15, I was playing in a band. I had been headhunted out of Epsom and was playing gigs in London," Jimmy Page said. He told Mojo magazine in 2004, that it was probably left behind by the people who lived in the house before them or it was a friend of the family. But according to Page, nobody seemed to know why that guitar was in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBzuYNK95sMThe post The incredible story of the first guitar Jimmy Page ever had appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

The vocalist Jack Russell helped to form the Hard Rock band Great White back in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. The band released their debut album in 1984 but they really became successful with the records "Once Bitten" (1987) and "...Twice Shy" (1989). He was a member of the band until 2011 when he left and formed his own version of the group, while the original one continued as Great White. Now the musician announced that he is retiring from touring because he was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, which "is a disease associated with abnormal deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain. These deposits, called Lewy bodies, affect chemicals in the brain whose changes, in turn, can lead to problems with thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. Lewy body dementia is one of the most common causes of dementia," according to the National Institute on Aging. Read the statement released by the Ex-Great White singer Jack Russell: "To my fans and friends, it is with the heaviest of hearts that I must announce my retirement from the road. After a recent diagnosis of Lewy body dementia (LBD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) in May 2024, I am unable to perform at the level I desire and at the level you deserve." "Words cannot express my gratitude for the many years of memories, love and support. Thank you for letting me live my dreams. You have made my life a wonder," Jack Russell said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-yQt5pjq4w&pp=ygURamFjayBydXNzZWxsIDIwMjQ%3DThe post Ex-Great White singer Jack Russell announces retirement from touring appeared first on Rock And Roll Garage.

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