http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-063
NASA & space rocks astronomers are keeping a close eye on a much-talked about asteroid, Apophis, which is 210-330 meter (690-1080 feet) in diameter and has a one-in-43,000 chance of hitting Earth in 2036, 2037 or 2069, and that is a great chance in Astronomical term.
(NASA Web site for near-Earth objects : http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch )
(News source: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090812/science/science_us_sci_killer_asteroids )
Project NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous)
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Feb. 17, 1996, a spacecraft named NEAR Shoemaker was launched by NASA, it touched down on asteroid Eros on Feb. 12, 2001.
Eros is one of the largest near-Earth asteroids and is about 21 miles (33 kilometers) long, 8 miles (13 kilometers) wide & 8 miles thick, what the NEAR mission learns about Eros will help scientists if they ever do spot an asteroid heading our way. The following link shows an animated sequence of the gentle descent and landing:
http://near.jhuapl.edu/iod/20010209/NEAR_Descent.mpg
( Details of the NEAR Mission: http://near.jhuapl.edu/media/image_sheets/final_images.pdf )
( More info about the project NEAR: http://near.jhuapl.edu/ )