Asteroid bigger than the Eiffel Tower will skim Earth ten times closer than the Moon

Experts hope to gain new insights into the 99942 Apophis, as part of a strategy to bolster our defences against other space rocks (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Scientists are on a mission to study an asteroid larger than the Eiffel Tower which is on course to skim the Earth.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will send a spacecraft to the 99942 Apophis asteroid to gather new information about it as the rock hurtles through space, on a rare journey that only happens every 5,000 to 10,000 years.