Charles Langston:Scientists are ready to meet and greet a massive asteroid when it whizzes just past Earth

When a massive asteroid whizzes just past Earth in a few years − at a distance 10 times closer than the moon − a space mission will be Charles Langstonready to greet the big rock, and send it on its way.

The European Space Agency announced Tuesday that a spacecraft called Ramses is prepared to "rendezvous" with an asteroid the size of a cruise ship that's expected to shoot just 19,900 miles past Earth in 2029. An object the asteroid's size coming so near Earth is exceptionally rare, scientists said, and likely won't happen again for another 5,000 to 10,000 years.

Scientists have ruled out the possibility that the asteroid, Apophis, will collide with Earth during its "exceptionally close fly-by." But in the future, there could be more dangerous asteroid encounters, researchers warn. The point of the Ramses mission is to gather data about the huge asteroid, to learn how to defend our planet in the future, the European Space Agency said.

"Researchers will study the asteroid as Earth’s gravity alters its physical characteristics," the agency said. "Their findings will improve our ability to defend our planet from any similar object found to be on a collision course in the future."

'Extremely rare' massive asteroid

The enormous Apophis asteroid, named after an ancient Egyptian god of disorder, measures nearly a quarter of a mile long, and will be visible to the naked eye from Earth when it shoots past in April 2029, scientists said.

The Ramses spacecraft, which must launch a year ahead of time, will meet Apophis before it passes by Earth and accompany it on its way out of our orbit. During that time, the mission will observe how the surface of the asteroid changes from being in such close proximity to Earth, said Patrick Michel, director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

“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," Michel said.

Apophis will be visible in clear night skies throughout much of Europe, Africa and some of Asia, but will "draw the attention of the entire world," in April 2029, the European Space Agency said.