The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced a mission to study the Apophis asteroid when it passes by Earth at a very close distance in 2029. ESA is the second major space agency, after NASA, to commit a space mission for Apophis that was once considered to be on a pathway to collide with the Earth. Apophis will come within 32,000 km of the Earth in 2029, offering space agencies a rare opportunity to study an asteroid from such close quarters. ESA said an asteroid of such large size comes…