In NASA unveiled plans to capture the near-Earth asteroid. Scientists plan to steal the stone with the asteroid and make it a satellite of the moon, to send astronauts to it.
Guide NASA revealed some details of semi mission with which the United States about ten years are going to learn the unique space technology that in the future to send a man into deep space and the first on Mars. The department refused to original ideas pull the Earth to orbit the moon or an asteroid a and focused on the more interesting, but expensive mission –
delivery to the moon with a large cobblestone surface of the asteroid.
According to preliminary estimates, the start of the mission worth $ 1.25 billion could be held in December 2020, and after a couple of years automatic probe reaches preselected asteroid. In the space agency has named three promising candidate among the known near-Earth asteroids – Itokawa, Bennu and 2008 EV5. About what the asteroid will be selected in NASA announced a year before sending a probe.
«mission to capture an asteroid must demonstrate space-based technologies, we need to send astronauts to Mars. The opportunity to steal a cobblestone asteroid will impact the planning of future space missions and will mark a new era in space exploration, “- said the deputy head of NASA Robert Lightfoot.
With regard to the asteroid capture probe on the surface of a suitable cobble size of about three meters and send it to the moon. However, before doing this, scientists are going to experience an unusual technique called gravitational tractor. In the future, scientists believe it will help deflect from Earth asteroids flying is dangerous. Its essence is as follows. Since all body having mass, attract and are attracted to other bodies themselves,
then using a probe orbiting the asteroid selected, you can try to change its trajectory.
And the heavier the probe, the more effective the “tractor” will work, so captured the stone should help in the experiment. To perform this test vehicle with the stone will revolve around the asteroid on the so-called halo orbit for 400 days.
After this step, the captured ship stone begins its journey to the moon, to achieve orbit, which is scheduled for late 2025. Another key technology with which scientists have linked the future of space exploration, will be the use of a probe ion engine. These engines are already put on spaceships – playing traditional chemical engines in the thrust, they provide an indisputable advantage in cost and time of operation.
These features allow you to effectively move massive objects for a long time, but at a low cost fuel.
It is expected that soon after the delivery of a small asteroid to the orbit of the Moon from the Earth to study it starts a couple of astronauts on the ship Orion.
For nearly a month, they will be able to study it, and then pick up some of the material on Earth.
The new version of the mission would be $ 100 million more than the idea of capturing the whole asteroid, but will give more opportunities for developing new technologies, explained Lightfoot. While the first probe would have only one attempt to capture an asteroid, then the hunter will cobble time to choose a suitable target, and several opportunities to capture. “When we find ourselves there, we will have some problems, and it will be exciting missions,” – he said.
Now the priority is to plant 450-meter asteroid type C 2008 EV5, two other candidates and possible additional will be considered later. Scientists say that the most interesting are the asteroids is a C-type, which has never been studied spacecraft. They are darker than other asteroids, because it consists of more primitive material. “They can definitely be dirty versions of comets,” – said Tim Swindle, head of the laboratory study of the Moon and the planets of the University of Arizona.
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