John Raoux/AP
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., says President Barack Obama and NASA are planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon. Then astronauts would explore it in 2021.
WASHINGTON - NASA has an idea straight out of "Star Trek" — and President Obama is proposing to spend an initial $100 million to make it happen.
The space agency is developing plans to launch a robotic spaceship that would rendevouz with a small asteroid and tow it toward earth for spacewalking astronauts to explore.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a former astronaut, revealed the "audacious" plan Friday after meeting with NASA scientists.
RELATED: SCIENTIST AND PARTNER CHARGED WITH $1M RIP-OFF OF NASA, NSF
"It really is a clever concept," Nelson told a news conference in Orlando. "Go find your ideal candidate for an asteroid, go get it robotically and bring it back."
Obama will place an initial $100 million for the mission in the 2014 budget that he'll propose next week.
The money will be used to plan the mission and identify a suitable asteroid to explore — ideally, one that is 25-feet wide and weighs about 500 tons.
RELATED: SEE IT: NEW YORK AT NIGHT FROM SPACE
Obama has set the goal of putting astronauts on an asteroid by 2025. The plan revealed by Nelson would advance that timetable by four years.
As now envisioned by NASA, the mission would unfold in two phases.
In 2019, the robotic spaceship would lasso the asteroid and move it toward earth.
RELATED: SEE IT: MARS LANDSCAPE IN STUNNING 360 PANORAMA VIA CURIOSITY ROVER
Then, in 2021, a "new monster rocket" topped by a NASA Orion space capsule - like an Apollo command module, only bigger - would launch astronauts to land on the asteroid and poke around.
Nelson said the entire project would help NASA develop the capability to nudge away a dangerous asteroid if one was hurtling toward.
It also would provid training for a future mission to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, he said.
RELATED: SOLAR PLANE PREPARES FOR U.S. TOUR
"This is part of what will be a much broader program," Nelson said.
"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 $100 million Obama is expected to place in the proposed federal budget represents planning money only.
The cost of building and launching the robotic spaceship and then sending astronauts to an asteroid is expected to cost billions of dollars.
While the idea of such a mission seems far-fetched, lawmakers are concerned about the potential of an large asteroid striking earth.
Their fears were heightened when a space rock came close to earth and exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Its shockwave injured close to 1,500 people roughly 15 miles below on the ground.
jstraw@nydailynews.com
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
NASA plans to tow asteroid into Earth's orbit - New York Daily News
Dengan url
https://goartikelasik.blogspot.com/2013/04/nasa-plans-to-tow-asteroid-into-earths.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
NASA plans to tow asteroid into Earth's orbit - New York Daily News
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
NASA plans to tow asteroid into Earth's orbit - New York Daily News
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar