Someone call Bruce Willis. Russia announced Wednesday that they are considering launching a spacecraft with the intention of altering its possibly earth-crushing trajectory to a less threatening one.
The asteroid, named Apophis, was first discovered in 2004, and is expected to fly by the Earth in 2029. Apophis is expected to pass close enough to the Earth that there would be a 1-in-37 chance of impact. Unlike Hollywood however, Russia isn’t planning on using a nuclear explosion to move the asteroid, but they haven’t revealed exactly what they have planned yet.
The leader of the Russian space program said that they would be inviting NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Chinese space agency to participate in the project. No word on if Aerosmith would be writing the soundtrack.