Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




IRON AND ICE
NASA wants to tow an asteroid to the moon: senator
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 6, 2013


NASA wants to grab a small asteroid and tow it into orbit around the moon, as part of a long-range plan towards establishing permanent manned outposts in space, according to a US senator.

To get the project off the ground, US President Barack Obama will propose around $100 million for the US space agency in his 2014 budget, which he submits to Congress on Wednesday, Senator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

"This is part of what will be a much broader program," the Florida Democrat explained.

"The plan combines the science of mining an asteroid, along with developing ways to deflect one, along with providing a place to develop ways we can go to Mars."

The plan calls for a robotic-spacecraft to capture the asteroid and tow it back towards Earth, ultimately leaving it in a stable orbit around the moon, close enough that, within eight years, astronauts could head on over.

A similar plan was initially proposed in 2012 by experts at the California Institute of Technology, and the group, along with other top researchers in the field, have since prepared a detailed study into the project's feasibility.

"It would be mankind's first attempt at modifying the heavens to enable the permanent settlement of humans in space," scientists said in their report.

Obama's goal of sending a manned mission to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025 is impossible given NASA's current and projected funding levels, expert analysis has suggested.

But using an unmanned vehicle to instead bring a 500-ton asteroid close to home could change the game and get humans to an asteroid as early as 2021, four years ahead of the deadline.

Once there, "there could be mining activities, research into ways of deflecting an asteroid from striking Earth, and testing to develop technology for a trip to deep space and Mars," Nelson's statement said.

.


Related Links
Asteroid and Comet Mission News, Science and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








IRON AND ICE
Dawn remains in silent pursuit of dwarf planet Ceres
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 01, 2013
In the depths of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, far from Earth, far even from any human-made object, Dawn remains in silent pursuit of dwarf planet Ceres. It has been more than six months since it slipped gracefully away from the giant protoplanet Vesta. The spacecraft has spent 95 percent of the time since then gently thrusting with its ion propulsion system, using that blue-g ... read more


IRON AND ICE
Russia rekindles Moon exploration program, intends setting up first human outposts there

Pre-existing mineralogy may survive lunar impacts

Lunar cycle determines hunting behaviour of nocturnal gulls

Ultraviolet spectrograph observes mercury and hydrogen in GRAIL impact plumes

IRON AND ICE
Final MAVEN Instrument Integrated to Spacecraft

Used Parachute on Mars Flaps in the Wind

BusinessCom Networks Connects Mars 2013

SwRI study finds liquid water flowing above and below frozen Alaskan sand dunes, hints of a wetter Mars

IRON AND ICE
Do Intellectual Property Rights on Existing Technologies Hinder Subsequent Innovation

Boeing Completes Preliminary Design Review for Connection Between CST-100 Spacecraft and Rocket

NASA Invests in Small Business Innovative Research and Technology Proposals to Enable Future Missions

India doing excellent in space programmes: Sunita Williams

IRON AND ICE
Shenzhou's Shadow Crew

Shenzhou 10 sent to launch site

China's Next Women Astronauts

Shenzhou 10 - Next Stop: Jiuquan

IRON AND ICE
First data released from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Team Publishes First Findings

New crew takes express ride to space station

Soyuz Docks At Space Station Four Orbits After Launch

IRON AND ICE
Future Looks Bright for Private US Space Ventures

Europe's next ATV resupply spacecraft enters final preparatio?ns for its Ariane 5 launch

ILS Proton Launches Satmex 8 Satellite for Satmex

When quality counts: Arianespace reaffirms its North American market presence

IRON AND ICE
NASA Selects Explorer Investigations for Formulation

The Great Exoplanet Debate Part Four

Astronomers Anticipate 100 Billion Earth-Like Planets

The Great Exoplanet Debate

IRON AND ICE
Theory and practice key to optimized broadband, low-loss optical metamaterials

CWRU-led scientists build material that mimics squid beak

Watching fluid flow at nanometer scales

Michigan Tech researcher slashes optics laboratory costs




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement