Asteroid Apophis, a roughly 1,115-foot space rock once considered the most dangerous known object due to an early 2.7% impact risk for 2029, will instead make a historically close but harmless pass just 20,000 miles above Earth's surface—about 12 times closer than the Moon. Discovered in 2004, its threat level has since been reduced to zero, with NASA confirming no risk for at least the next century. The flyby, one of the closest ever recorded for an object of its size, will offer a rare and potentially unprecedented opportunity for scientists to study a large asteroid up close using modern technology.