NASA has formally proposed a mission to send a rocket to an asteroid with the goal of lugging a piece of it back to the moon.
According to the Associated Press, the $1.25 billion plan is tentatively set for the year 2020 and would be a precursor to sending astronauts to Mars. NASA hopes their unmanned spacecraft will be able to transport a 13-foot boulder from an asteroid and place in the moon's orbit.
Our mission to grab an asteroid & move it close to the moon progresses on our #JourneyToMars https://t.co/SbmC5KX9d7 pic.twitter.com/4cKULB9BIb
— NASA (@NASA) March 25, 2015
Aboard the Orion spacecraft that could one day transport astronauts to Mars, NASA would send humans to the asteroid chunk for observations.
"The Asteroid Redirect Mission will provide an initial demonstration of several spaceflight capabilities we will need to send astronauts deeper into space, and eventually, to Mars," Robert Lightfoot, NASA's associate administrator, said in a press release. "The option to retrieve a boulder from an asteroid will have a direct impact on planning for future human missions to deep space and begin a new era of spaceflight."
The Obama Administration is pushing the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) to get astronauts beyond Earth's low-orbiting International Space Station, CBS News reported. But ARM was the second option after one that proposed snagging a small asteroid in full.
"At the end of the day, we selected the option (where) we're going to go to an asteroid and take a boulder off of it," Lightfoot said in a teleconference, according to CBS News. "Let's get on with it, so we can get this next key step in our journey to Mars moving on."
Space rocks have come into focus for numerous space agencies worldwide, as detecting which ones will merely fly by Earth and which will actually threaten to enter its atmosphere has proven tricky. The European Space Agency made a huge leap forward by landing a spacecraft on a comet before it is drawn toward the sun.
"Asteroids are a hot topic," Jim Green, director of NASA Planetary Science, said in the release. "Not just because they could pose a threat to Earth, but also for their scientific value and NASA's planned mission to one as a stepping stone to Mars."
