Asteroid Apophis, “God of Chaos,” Passes Earth Today in Warm Up to Its 2029 Much Closer Flyby.

This NASA/JPL animation shows the path that the asteroid Apophis, “God of Chaos,” will pass at a safe distance from Earth tonight at 8:15 PM Eastern, March 5, 2021. Apophis is estimated in size to be between 1,017 to 2,230 feet. One mile equals 5,280 feet, so Apophis is not quite a half-mile in length. All the blue dots in the NASA/JPL animation are the man-made satellites that orbit Earth now. And the pink dot is the International Space Station.  But eight years from now on April 13, 2029, Apophis will come back again much closer to Earth — maybe as close as some of our high-altitude satellites.