God of Chaos

Demon from the Asteroid Belt Nemesis

Unlike Halley's comet, which regularly passes Earth to say hello, Apophis seems to be hurtling straight toward us. Or is it?

Like weather and climate, processes in space are chaotic and can only be predicted to a very limited extent. When was the last time you got rained on?

It is to be credited to the weather forecasts that they are mostly not manipulated. The probability of an impact and the 'aftermath' of Apophis should be considered a little more closely.

Astronomers have discovered near-Earth asteroids that have gone undetected in the glare of the Sun. So if not Asteroid Apophis, then surely another big rock will surprise us!

Rockstar Apophis

The name of the Asteroid (99942) Apophis says it all.

The ancient Egyptian god Apophis is the embodiment of dissolution, darkness and chaos and at the same time the great adversary of Maat, the daughter of the sun god Re.

Arch-demon Apophis bears an undeniable resemblance to the Judeo/Christian concept of Satan. That evil figure who wants to destroy mankind. . The embodiment of this mythological deity will (hopefully) whiz past the earth on Friday, April 13, 2029... although pretty darn close: 30,000 km it is said to pass us - closer than many of our satellites.

Our advice: secure yourself a chance to fly on our spaceship or if you want to see the spectacle, which can be easily observed from Earth..., at least 2 bottles of red wine!

The Wrath of the Gods

IIn ancient times, solar and lunar eclipses were associated with the wrath of the gods and impending catastrophes or even the end of the world. In ancient China, people believed that an evil sky dragon would eat the sun. With much shouting and loud rattling, they tried to scare him away - so that he would spit out the sun again.

• Obelix, the 'famous' Celt was not afraid of anything except the sky falling on his head.
  
  
• The Aztecs appeased the gods with human blood so that the sun would rise again the next morning.
  
  
• The comet Hale-Bopp was in 1997 for a sect the sign to commit collective suicide to ride along with the UFO, which accompanied the comet allegedly. Note: suicide is not necessary for our ride - we take only living persons on board!

NASA & Co.

Today we have no more fear, because the trajectories of the celestial bodies are observed exactly. At least the ones we know... The all-clear is regularly given, because calculations show that an impact is unlikely.

But does Apophis care about our calculations? 99942 is not crossing the Earth's orbit for the first time. Apophis was first discovered in 2004. Reliable calculations about the probability of an impact are not possible with precision. Too many factors in the vastness of space have influence on the trajectory of such planet killers.

So it's all just a matter of perspective?