An ambitious mission will allow astronauts to explore a space rock dragged into orbit around the Moon, says a US senator.
A US senator has said Nasa plans to use a robotic spaceship to lasso an asteroid and park it near the Moon for astronauts to explore.
Bill Nelson, chairman of the Senate Science and Space Subcommittee, said the 550-ton space rock could be snatched in 2019.
Local television channel News 13 said that once it had been dragged into a stable orbit, astronauts on board the Orion capsule would mine the rock to learn more about its composition.
It is hoped that four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock for spacewalking exploration by 2021, according to a government document.
Donald Yeomans, who leads Nasa's Near Earth Object programme, explained that the asteroid would be captured with the space equivalent of "a baggie with a drawstring".
"You bag it. You attach the solar propulsion module to de-spin it and bring it back to where you want it."
The asteroid would provide scientists with a "unique, meaningful and affordable" destination for the next decade, Senator Nelson was quoted as saying by Florida Today.
Mr Nelson, who represents Florida, told the newspaper that President Barack Obama will put aside $100m (£65m) in planning money for the mission, when the White House unveils its 2014 budget next week.
He said the project would help Nasa defend Earth from a potentially devastating asteroid strike in the future.
It could also help scientists test technologies that could one day be used in a manned mission to Mars.
Last year, the Keck Institute for Space Studies proposed a similar mission for Nasa with a price tag of $2.6bn (£1.7bn). However, the space agency has not yet revealed an estimated cost.
In a separate project, announced in January, US company Deep Space Industries said it planned to send a fleet of spacecraft into the solar system to mine asteroids for metals and minerals.
The first mission could be flown in 2015, with each journey lasting up to six months.
The robotic ship would capture the 500-ton 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, now being developed, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration, according to a government document obtained by The Associated Press.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the plan would speed up by four years the existing mission to land astronauts on an asteroid by bringing the space rock closer to Earth.
Nelson, who is chairman of the Senate science and space subcommittee, said Friday that President Barack Obama is putting $100 million in planning money for the accelerated asteroid mission in the 2014 budget that comes out next week. The money would be used to find the right small asteroid.
“It really is a clever concept,” Nelson said in a press conference in Orlando. “Go find your ideal candidate for an asteroid. Go get it robotically and bring it back.”
While there are thousands of asteroids that size out there, finding the right one that comes by Earth at just the right time to be captured will not be easy, said Donald Yeomans, who heads NASA’s Near Earth Object program that monitors close-by asteroids. He said once a suitable rock is found it would be captured with the space equivalent of “a baggie with a drawstring. You bag it. You attach the solar propulsion module to de-spin it and bring it back to where you want it.”
Yeomans said a 25-foot asteroid is no threat to Earth because it would burn up should it inadvertently enter Earth’s atmosphere. The mission as Nelson described is perfectly safe, he said.
Nelson said this would help NASA develop the capability to nudge away a dangerous asteroid if one headed to Earth in the future. It also would be training for a future mission to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, he said.
The government document said the mission, with no price tag at the moment, would inspire because it “will send humans farther than they have ever been before.”
Source [...]
0 comments:
Post a Comment