The purpose of the initiative is to gather more information on asteroids for mining
NASA has released new concept images and animations outlining one version of its plan to capture an asteroid with an unmanned craft and return it to lunar orbit for astronauts to study. The plan is part of an initiative by President Barack Obama for a US manned asteroid mission as outlined in his 2014 NASA budget request. The agency’s main objective at the moment is to come up with alternative approaches and evaluate them.
The purpose of the initiative is to gather more information on asteroids for mining, as well as learning more about how to divert potentially dangerous ones. It also provides the US manned spaceflight program with a new goal now that the International Space Station is completed and the Space Shuttle retired. The current program is still very much in the concept stage, but NASA has already come up with some broad outlines of what a mission might look like. Generally, it would be based on a solar electric propulsion system, the Space Launch System (SLS), and the Orion manned spacecraft, all currently under development
In the scenario presented by NASA, the SLS would lift a robotic asteroid redirect vehicle into orbit around the year 2025. This would then make a rendezvous with an asteroid using an ion propulsion drive (similar to that on the Dawn probe) powered by a solar array. Once on station, the vehicle would engulf the asteroid in a huge inflatable cylinder. Secured, the cylinder would collapse and cinch tight on the asteroid like a bag. The asteroid would then be despun and the ion drive used to redirect it to a stable, retrograde lunar orbit like a sort of interplanetary tug boat.
After the asteroid is in orbit, a Orion spacecraft with a crew of two would be launched, also using the SLS, and sent to the asteroid on a nine-day passage that would involve a slingshot maneuver around the Moon to place the craft in the correct intercept orbit.
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When you start rooting for the planet-killing asteroid in a speculative disaster show to please ... Like trying to grab handfuls of dissipating smoke or capture a greased piglet at a county fair, ...
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- Asteroid that exploded over Berlin was fastest-spinning space rock ever recordedon May 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm
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- Scientists say they’ve traced the origins of a potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid to the far side of the moonon May 1, 2024 at 12:29 pm
An unusual asteroid traveling near Earth is thought to be a chunk of the moon, but exactly how it ended up zooming through the solar system has remained a mystery. Now, researchers say they’ve ...
- Asteroid hunters spot 27,500 overlooked near-Earth asteroids — more than were discovered by all of the world’s telescopes last yearon April 30, 2024 at 10:53 am
Asteroid hunters have identified 27,500 overlooked near-Earth asteroids using cutting-edge tech that could potentially stave off armageddon in the future. Instead of stargazing with a traditional ...
- Novel calculations peg age of 'baby' asteroidon April 30, 2024 at 9:08 am
An asteroid dubbed "Lucy's baby" after a NASA spacecraft discovered it is orbiting another asteroid last November is,, in fact,, a solar system toddler—just 2–3 million years old, a Cornell-led ...
- Hubble goes hunting for small main belt asteroidson April 17, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Because of Hubble's fast orbit around the Earth, it can capture wandering asteroids through their telltale trails in the Hubble exposures. As viewed from an Earth-based telescope, an asteroid ...
- 2,000-foot-wide 'potentially hazardous' asteroid has just made its closest approach to Earth — and you can see it with a telescopeon April 15, 2024 at 3:11 pm
A "city-killer" asteroid has just made its closest approach to Earth since records began, sailing safely past our planet at more than eight times the average distance between Earth and the moon.
- 2,000-foot-wide 'potentially hazardous' asteroid has just made its closest approach to Earth — and you can see it with a telescopeon April 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
While the asteroid poses no threat to Earth, its close approach is still of great interest to astronomers, who are currently tracking the space rock with radio telescopes. They hope to capture ...
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- In the race for space metals, companies hope to cash inon May 10, 2024 at 5:00 am
Mining asteroids could, in theory, reduce the burden on Earth’s resources. Will it live up to its promise? By Sarah Scoles/Undark | Published May 10, 2024 8:00 AM EDT This article was originally ...
- Astronomers Discover 27,500 New Asteroids Lurking in Archival Imageson May 8, 2024 at 12:02 pm
With Google Cloud, the Asteroid Foundation used newly developed software to scour 1.7 billion points of light in some 400,000 images taken over seven years.
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There's an astronomical number of asteroids hanging around Earth, and it's important to spot them before they get too close. Here's one way NASA achieved that.
- Asteroid Ryugu holds secrets about our early solar systemon May 2, 2024 at 5:57 pm
A recent study examined the effects of space weathering on Ryugu, an asteroid explored by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft.
- Asteroid Ryugu holds secrets of our solar system's past, present and futureon May 1, 2024 at 6:01 am
"The signatures of space weathering we have detected directly will give us a better understanding of some of the phenomena occurring in the solar system." ...
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- Asteroid Institute and Google Cloud Identify 27,500 New Asteroids with Cloud-Based Astrodynamics and Data Miningon April 30, 2024 at 1:24 pm
The project was done without the benefit of new observations of the sky, but rather by leveraging Google Cloud technology to run sophisticated algorithms developed by Asteroid Institute and University ...
- Lack Of Earth's Resources Can Be Fulfilled By Asteroids - And A US Firm Wants To Mine Themon April 30, 2024 at 12:55 am
Building on their experience at SpaceX, Gialich and Acain are spearheading AstroForge's mission to make space resources accessible and commercially viable. Their miniature refinery system, designed ...
- Minerals are in short supply on Earth. This startup wants to mine asteroidson April 23, 2024 at 1:13 am
The company already has a refinery in space, and this year it will launch a reconnaissance mission to a metallic asteroid in deep space.
- Minerals are in short supply on Earth. This startup wants to mine asteroidson April 23, 2024 at 1:13 am
Interest in asteroids – both for better understanding Earth’s origins and their composition, which could lay the groundwork for miners – is skyrocketing, and experts say asteroid mining may ...
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