KISS Symposium: Capturing an Opportunity at Apophis

Abstract

We held our two-day symposium “Capturing an Opportunity at Apophis” on July 31 and August 1, 2024. We organized the Symposium at Caltech and JPL to solicit feedback on a mission under development by Caltech, in collaboration with JPL, to rendezvous with Apophis before and escort it through its close Earth flyby in 2029.

We engaged a focused group of 26 individuals from academia and NASA in the discussions (see participant list). Our participants brought a broad range of expertise, including representation from both planetary science and engineering disciplines. Most participants were based in the US, except for two international participants.

We structured the Symposium as a mix of activities, including keynote talks, breakout sessions with fewer than ten individuals where we discussed predefined topics in detail, lightning talks, and group discussions.

Overall, the Caltech mission concept received very positive feedback from our group, and we recommend the following next steps:

• Develop a public communications strategy concerning the Apophis close approach

• Facilitate and participate in an Apophis session at LPSC

• Prepare a publication summarizing Apophis modeling and data

• Refine the Caltech mission science case

• Conduct trade studies to evaluate minor changes to the mission concept (radar geometry and frequency, adding more instruments)

• Coordinate timelines and objectives with other Apophis missions

• Ensure modelers, mission teams, and observational astronomers have open lines of communication, promptly sharing new data and predictions to inform mission planning and maximize science return.

Many of these follow-on activities are underway.

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