NASA wants fleet of spacecraft to watch infamous Apophis asteroid approach Earth: report

An artist's illustration of asteroid Apophis near Earth. The asteroid will fly extremely close to Earth in 2029, and then again in 2036, but poses no threat of hitting the planet either time.

NASA wants a fleet of small private spacecraft to visit an infamous asteroid during its upcoming close shave of Earth, a report suggests.

Apophis, though not a threat to our planet, will pass within the altitude of some satellites in 2029 and will even be visible to the naked eye. The space agency is now floating an idea for industry to create a fleet of tiny spacecraft to watch the asteroid's every move.