Science News: NASA Mission to Capture Asteroid, Bring It Closer for Examination

 

NASA has plans in the works to capture an asteroid with a robot and pull it near the moon for examination by astronauts within the decade or so.

President Obama is expected next week to request $105 million of NASA’s 2014 budget for this mission.

An official of the Obama administration said this mission would "accomplish the president's challenge of sending humans to visit an asteroid by 2025.”

This mission is expected to be more cost-effective and quicker than previous scenarios.

NASA revised a scenario made by the Keck Institute for Space Studies and proposes a robotic probe that would capture a 500-ton, 7- to 10-meter-wide asteroid in a bag.

The bag would then be pulled to the moon’s orbit and later examined by astronauts.

CBS Article 

Washington Post Article 

NBC Article