Nonetheless, this concept inspired the ESA which is currently working with its American counterpart, the NASA, on the space cooperation called AIDA (for Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment).
[3] Don Quijote was one of six Near Earth Object precursor studies funded by ESA's General Studies Programme, other missions being: EUNEOS (European NEO Survey), Earthguard-I, NERO (NEO Remote Observations), SIMONE (Smallsat Intercept Missions to Objects Near Earth) and ISHTAR (Internal Structure High-resolution Tomography by Asteroid Rendezvous).
[2] In a subsequent study, two different possibilities were selected: the Amor asteroid 2003 SM84 and 99942 Apophis; the latter is of particular significance to Earth as it will make a close approach in 2029 and 2036.
[7][8][9] The mission was named after the fictional Spanish knight from Miguel de Cervantes' renowned novel, Don Quixote, who charged against a windmill, thinking it to be a giant.
'Sancho' was named after Sancho Panza, the Quixote's squire, who preferred to stay back and watch from a safe distance, which was the role assigned to that probe.