On July 20, 1969, man walked on the moon, as some believe, and now NASA has a mission, Artemis, to return to the moon in 2024. Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo for which the original moon program was named, marking a long tradition of using mythology and symbols in space exploration. Scientists are also now telling us that the astroid named after the 'god of un-creation', Apophis, will not pose any threat to the planet, at any point in the future, in some comet relief for those concerned about end of the world scenarios. However, Chinese scientists are sending rockets to meet with the astroid Bennu in order to experiment with deflection techniques for future potentially hazardous events. The U.S. is doing the same with project HAMMER for Bennu and testing their DART project for the astroid Didymos by fall of 2021. The NASA mission to study the Bennu astroid - Osiris - is also finally coming home. But, according to the National NEO Preparedness Strategy, only 30% of NEOs large enough to cause regional damage have been identified. That means by estimation, 70% have not been identified and even more potentially hazardous objects certainly exist beyond those that may cause regional damage. Even though it is certainly logical to test gravity tractors and deflection methods against future asteroid or comet trajectories that could be hazardous to our planet, it may be that even with such technology we are unable to save ourselves if we encounter the wrong rock and the wrong time. Bennu is the bird of Osiris and Ra, and in the sanctuary of this bird is the BenBen stone.
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