Space: 'Plymouth Rock' Asteroid Mission Idea Gains Ground
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 8:58 pm
'Plymouth Rock' Deep Space Asteroid Mission Idea Gains Ground
Space.com | 30 Aug 2010
Space.com | 30 Aug 2010
Plans for sending humans to visit an asteroid are heating up, with at least one company already scoping out the technological essentials for a deep space expedition within a decade, given the go-ahead.
The asteroid space trek is seen as both scientifically valuable and as a dress rehearsal for a Mars mission, NASA officials have said. It could also hone ideas for planetary defense to guard Earth from a messy head-on clash with a space rock.
Launching a manned asteroid mission by 2025 is NASA's new goal set by President Barack Obama, who announced the plan in April. The deep space mission would serve as a stepping stone to a crewed mission to Mars in the mid-2030s, he said.
Lockheed Martin, which has been building NASA's Orion space capsule to replace the agency's retiring shuttle fleet, has already completed a study on how an asteroid mission might work.