Go ahead and book that next trip – once the pandemic is over, we’re good to go for the next hundred years. At least, according to NASA, which has given Earth the all-clear from a particularly menacing asteroid.

The US space agency reports that new telescope observations have ruled out any chance of Apophis smacking Earth in 2068.

That’s the same 340-metre space rock that was supposed to come frighteningly close in 2029 and again in 2036. NASA ruled out any chance of a strike during those two close approaches a while ago, but a potential 2068 collision still loomed.

First detected in 2004, Apophis is now officially off NASA’s asteroid “risk list.”

“A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore, and our calculations don’t show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years,” says Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Scientists were able to refine Apophis’ orbit around the sun thanks to radar observations in March, when the asteroid passed within 17 million km.

Apophis will come within 32,000 km on April 13, 2029, enabling astronomers to get a good look.

“When I started working with asteroids after college, Apophis was the poster child for hazardous asteroids,” Farnocchia says. “There’s a certain sense of satisfaction to see it removed from the risk list.”