MOSCOW - Russia is considering sending a spacecraft to a large
asteroid to knock it off its path and prevent its collision with
Earth - a collision NASA considers highly unlikely - the head of
the country's space agency said Wednesday. Anatoly Perminov said
the space agency will hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to
Apophis, telling Golos Rossii radio that it would invite NASA,
the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others
to join the project once it is finalized. When the 270-meter
(885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers
estimated the chances of it smashing into Earth in its first
flyby in 2029 were as high as 1-in-37, but have since lowered
their estimate. Further studies ruled out the possibility of an
impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer
than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometres) above Earth's surface, but
they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent
encounters. In October, NASA lowered the odds that Apophis could
hit Earth in