New OSIRIS APEX imagery shows Earth and moon as spacecraft heads toward Apophis

NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft recently captured images of Earth and the moon as it performed a gravity-assist flyby to continue its journey toward the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

The images were taken during the spacecraft’s closest approach to Earth on September 23, 2025, when OSIRIS-APEX passed approximately 2,136 miles above the planet.

The following day, the spacecraft captured the moon from about 370,000 miles away.

According to NASA, these images confirm that the spacecraft’s instruments are fully operational and that it remains on course for its scheduled 2029 encounter with Apophis.

OSIRIS-APEX captures Earth and Moon images on the way to Apophis

OSIRIS-APEX mission overview

OSIRIS-APEX, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Apophis Explorer is the second phase of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.

OSIRIS-REx returned a sample from asteroid Bennu in 2023, after which NASA charted a new trajectory toward Apophis. Apophis is a stony, metal-rich near-Earth asteroid that differs in composition from Bennu.

The spacecraft’s journey includes multiple perihelion passes, closest points to the Sun, and gravity assists from Earth to reach Apophis.

The September flyby used Earth’s gravity to increase OSIRIS-APEX’s velocity and redirect it toward the asteroid.

According to NASA, the spacecraft is scheduled to arrive shortly after Apophis’s close approach to Earth on April 13, 2029. The mission will provide the first detailed observations of an asteroid during a close planetary flyby.

Instrument performance and perihelion passes

OSIRIS-APEX completed its closest perihelion pass on January 2, 2024, traveling 25 million miles closer to the Sun than originally planned.

NASA mission engineers confirmed the spacecraft remained within operational parameters after the perihelion, based on telemetry data downloaded in March 2024.

The spacecraft’s instruments were tested in April 2024 and performed within expected limits.

To protect sensitive components during the perihelion, engineers positioned OSIRIS-APEX in a fixed orientation relative to the Sun and adjusted one of its solar arrays for shading.

Some instruments, including the MapCam and the visible and near-infrared spectrometer, performed better than anticipated after the pass.

NASA reported that a calibration port previously blocked by a small piece of rock from Bennu appears to have been cleared during post-perihelion maneuvers.

The MapCam imager showed a reduction in hot pixels, which are defects caused by radiation exposure, likely due to a natural annealing process from the Sun’s heat.

OSIRIS-APEX will undergo additional perihelion passes, scheduled gravity assists and instrument checks before reaching Apophis.

The spacecraft’s next close perihelion is scheduled for September 1, 2024, at approximately 46.5 million miles from the Sun, inside Venus’ orbit.

Planned operations at Apophis

OSIRIS-APEX‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ will be orbiting Apophis for about 18 months after it gets there. During that time, it will take a close look at the surface and the makeup of the space rock.

Once there, the plan is for the spacecraft to be "hovering near the surface to stir up dust and expose fresh material," as per the NASA report.

This part of the mission is aimed at understanding how the asteroid’s closest approach to Earth in 2029 will affect its structure and composition by recording Apophis' reaction to the tidal forces.

OSIRIS-APEX will give detailed pictures and instrumentation data that will help researchers figure out the physical and chemical nature of the asteroid.

Photos of Earth and the moon taken by OSIRIS-APEX are proof that the spacecraft is performing its functions and that it is moving along its path out of the solar system.

According to NASA’s status reports, the spacecraft is still going as planned for the meeting with Apophis and it is continuing with the usual tests and checks of its ‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌systems.