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OSIRIS-APEX Releases Earth Flyby Imagery After 2,136-Mile Gravity Assist Toward Apophis

New calibration imagery confirms the September maneuver set the spacecraft on course for a 2029 rendezvous.

To verify safe storage of asteroid sample during OSIRIS-APEX’s primary mission, StowCam captures both still and video imagery. (Photo: Nasa)
Image
This animation depicts the orbital trajectory of asteroid Apophis, as it passes by Earth on April 13, 2029. Motion is sped up 2,000 times. It will come within 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of our planet’s surface. Animation via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ YouTube.

Overview

  • NASA shared images from the Sept. 23, 2025 Earth pass, when OSIRIS-APEX flew about 2,136 miles (3,438 km) above the planet for a planned gravity assist.
  • Mission teams used the observations to calibrate instruments, including a MapCam color composite that clearly shows Australia.
  • Roughly nine hours after closest approach, the spacecraft was about 142,000 miles from Earth and continuing outbound.
  • A 424-frame StowCam sequence shows the instrument deck with Earth rotating over the Atlantic, with South America visible on the left of the view.
  • A later dual exposure captured Earth and the Moon from approximately 370,000 miles away, as the mission continues toward Apophis to study surface and spin changes during its 2029 close pass.