NASA identifies potential asteroids to move to the Moon’s orbit
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/nasa-identifies-three-potential-asteroids-for-capture/4954266

NASA has narrowed its hunt for an asteroid to capture and drag into orbit around the Moon.

The US space agency says three asteroids fit the requirements of being between seven to 10 metres in size, and further study should be able to narrow the choice even more, scientists said at a conference in San Diego, California.

“We have two to three which we will characterise in the next year and if all goes well … those will be valid candidates that could be certified targets,” said Paul Chodas, senior scientist at the NASA Near-Earth Object Program Office.

The plan is to send a robotic spacecraft to capture the asteroid and move it into the Moon’s orbit.

Once there, astronauts could visit the asteroid and take samples of it back to Earth for study.

more…

CrazyNeutrino said:

NASA identifies potential asteroids to move to the Moon’s orbit
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/nasa-identifies-three-potential-asteroids-for-capture/4954266

NASA has narrowed its hunt for an asteroid to capture and drag into orbit around the Moon.

The US space agency says three asteroids fit the requirements of being between seven to 10 metres in size, and further study should be able to narrow the choice even more, scientists said at a conference in San Diego, California.

“We have two to three which we will characterise in the next year and if all goes well … those will be valid candidates that could be certified targets,” said Paul Chodas, senior scientist at the NASA Near-Earth Object Program Office.

The plan is to send a robotic spacecraft to capture the asteroid and move it into the Moon’s orbit.

Once there, astronauts could visit the asteroid and take samples of it back to Earth for study.

more…

What happens if the tow rope breaks and they drop it into earth’s pull?

> What happens if the tow rope breaks and they drop it into Earth’s pull?

It misses, nothing more exciting than that.

I really like this idea of moving an asteroid into the Moon’s orbit. (I’d prefer a comet, but that would be much more difficult to arrange).

mollwollfumble said:

> What happens if the tow rope breaks and they drop it into Earth’s pull?

It misses, nothing more exciting than that.

I really like this idea of moving an asteroid into the Moon’s orbit. (I’d prefer a comet, but that would be much more difficult to arrange).

There would be a possibility that something goes wrong? There would have to be surely? Could that mean insurance costs kybosh it?

> There would be a possibility that something goes wrong?

Quantum tunnelling means that everything is possible. The Earth could turn into a black hole tomorrow. But it’s not a risk you have to insure against.

The following includes the announcement that prompted the news articles. So far as I can tell, the names and orbits of the asteroids have not yet been released.
—-
Announced earlier this year, NASA is planning to eventually launch an ambitious mission that would see the space agency capture an asteroid and then bring it to the moon to orbit so that astronauts can explore it. NASA has now narrowed down its list of 14 asteroids that could be used for such a mission, and are now looking closely at three asteroids.

NASA aims to bring a 23-foot-wide asteroid into lunar orbit using a robotic space lasso. Once in a stable orbit around the moon, astronauts would be able to visit the space rock beginning in 2021 via NASA’s Orion space capsule and the giant Space Launch System mega-rocket.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Paul Chodas, a senior scientist with NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office, announced that the space agency had whittled down the list of contenders. He added:

“It’s mostly orbital constraints that those 14 satisfy. We did not have the opportunity to characterize the size. We have two to three which we’ll characterize in the next year and if all goes well, those will be valid candidates that could be certified targets and we’ll pass by another in the year 2016. So we have three from the list of 14.”

Chodas also has high hopes for the future of viable asteroid discovery, and thinks that its future is bright. He believes that NASA could find roughly five more asteroid candidates each year while preparing for the mission.

Considering the risks involved in a venture such as this, and who should assess them, is certainly a valid question.

It is also certain that scientists are not the best people to assess the risks; they will inevitably over estimate the value of the project, and under estimate the potential costs.

Requiring the project to take out commercial insurance, with no upper limit on compensation payments, would probably be a good way to do the risk assessment.

i would imagine that the orbital parameters that allow them to put it into an orbit similar to the moon would preclude it from going into an earth crossing orbit. things in space don’t obey the same laws that craft in star trek or star wars do. you can blame newton for that.

Boris said:

i would imagine that the orbital parameters that allow them to put it into an orbit similar to the moon would preclude it from going into an earth crossing orbit. things in space don’t obey the same laws that craft in star trek or star wars do. you can blame newton for that.

I doubt Newton ever envisaged star trek craft movement.

Does the fact they’re not proposing to bring the asteroid into Earth orbit tell us something about their confidence in pulling this off successfully?

NASA doesn’t have anything remotely suitable to send astronauts into moon orbit, does it?

The Rev Dodgson said:

It is also certain that scientists are not the best people to assess the risks; they will inevitably over estimate the value of the project, and under estimate the potential costs.

I strongly disagree with that. I would go so far as to say that scientists are the only people who can accurately assess the risks.

CrazyNeutrino said:

NASA identifies potential asteroids to move to the Moon’s orbit
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/nasa-identifies-three-potential-asteroids-for-capture/4954266

NASA has narrowed its hunt for an asteroid to capture and drag into orbit around the Moon.

The US space agency says three asteroids fit the requirements of being between seven to 10 metres in size, and further study should be able to narrow the choice even more, scientists said at a conference in San Diego, California.

“We have two to three which we will characterise in the next year and if all goes well … those will be valid candidates that could be certified targets,” said Paul Chodas, senior scientist at the NASA Near-Earth Object Program Office.

The plan is to send a robotic spacecraft to capture the asteroid and move it into the Moon’s orbit.

Once there, astronauts could visit the asteroid and take samples of it back to Earth for study.

more…

This mission was unfortunately cancelled in this year’s budget.