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NASA wants to lasso an asteroid, but which one?

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NASA scientists have identified a dozen or so space rocks for its asteroid-retrieval mission, which it hopes to accomplish by 2025.

NASA is making progress on one of the most challenging parts of its ambitious asteroid-retrieval mission finding a suitable space rock to shrink-wrap in space.

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Scientists have identified a dozen or so promising targets for NASA'sasteroid-capture mission, which seeks to drag a small rock or a piece of a larger one into a stable orbit around the moon, where it would be visited by astronauts by 2025.

"For either concept that's being looked at right now either the capture of a small asteroid less than 10 meters in size, or going after a boulder, large boulder, on a larger asteroid we have a list of about six or so candidates each," Lindley Johnson, program executive for NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program, told reporters Friday (March 21). [NASA's Asteroid-Capture Mission in Pictures]

"We continue to look for additional candidates," Johnson said, adding that NEO program scientists "will continue to do that over the next two to three years, until the time comes to actually determine which will be the best object for the mission."

The NEO program's primary purpose is identifying and tracking potentially dangerousasteroids. But good capture candidates are a subset of this larger group, Johnson said, so assessment of their suitability for the redirect mission doesn't take NEO scientists too far afield.

The asteroid-redirect mission would use a robotic probe to move the targeted space rock into Earth-moon space. The asteroid would then be visited, perhaps multiple times, by astronauts using NASA's Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket, which are slated to fly crews together for the first time in 2021.

NASA wants the first manned visit to the retrieved asteroid to come around 2025, which would mesh well with an exploration timeline laid out by the White House. In 2010, President Barack Obama directed NASA to get astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025, then on to the vicinity of Mars by the mid-2030s.

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NASA wants to lasso an asteroid, but which one?

NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission Offers $6M For New Ideas On Capturing Near-Earth Objects

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Artist's concept of an astronaut retrieving a sample as part of the Asteroid Redirect Mission. NASA

According to NASA, the Asteroid Redirect Mission will pave the way for the manned mission to Mars in the 2030s, the challenge set forth by President Barack Obama in 2010. As part of the mission, after NASA sends a near-Earth Object (NEO) to a safe orbit, the space agency will send astronauts to explore and collect samples of the asteroid, to occur in the 2020s.

NASA is accepting proposals for innovations in asteroid-capture systems, rendezvous sensors and commercial spacecraft modifications, as well as studies for future commercial partnerships.

William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA, said in a statement, To reach Mars, we'll rely on new technologies and advanced capabilities proven through the Asteroid Initiative. We're looking forward to exciting ideas from outside NASA as well to help realize that vision.

The Asteroid Redirect Mission proposal due date is May 5, with the award date scheduled for July 1. NASA says the contract will run through 2014. The call for proposals comes after NASA's announcement of the first Asteroid Grand Challenge Contest. The space agency is putting up $35,000 in reward money, and the first contest involves developing improved asteroid-detecting algorithms.

These missions are part of NASA's Asteroid Initiative which includes the Asteroid Redirect Mission as well as the Grand Challenge to find all potential asteroid threats. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has established the Near Earth Object Program, which tracks asteroids and comets and also assesses potential impact risk.

NASA is not the only one concerned about NEOs, as the United Nations will head a defense plan called the International Asteroid Warning Group. The new technology incorporated in the asteroid mission, such as the Orion Spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket, will be vital for the future mission to Mars. NASA has scheduled an Asteroid Initiative Opportunities Forum for March 26 that will include updates on the mission and the Grand Challenge.

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NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission Offers $6M For New Ideas On Capturing Near-Earth Objects

6-Year-Old Boy Visits KSCVC to Continue Fulfilling His ‘Mission’ of Saving NASA – Video

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6-Year-Old Boy Visits KSCVC to Continue Fulfilling His #39;Mission #39; of Saving NASA
Dreams do come true. Six-year old Connor Johnson, Denver, Colo., met with astronauts, trained like an astronaut, saw space vehicles and explored the future o...

By: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

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6-Year-Old Boy Visits KSCVC to Continue Fulfilling His 'Mission' of Saving NASA - Video


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