March 26, 2015 at 21:08NASA in 2025 will land astronauts on an asteroid, which for this will deliver into the orbit of the moon
NASA's assistant director Robert Lightfoot said that in 2025, the agency plans to land astronauts on a piece of the asteroid, which in 2020 will be dragged to the orbit of the moon. The operation will be the stage of preparation for the trip to Mars: it will test new spacesuits, equipment and test the Orion manned spacecraft in public.
Orion manned spacecraft makes its first flightat the end of 2014. He flew with a mass-dimensional layout of the service module, in which there were no engines, fuel and solar panels. The agency will have to check the device with working modules, after which it will be possible to start sending people into space. NASA plans to use Orion for flights to Mars, but first it needs to be checked at smaller distances - including for a flight to the moon.
NASA had two plans last yearfor the delivery of a cosmic body to the orbit of the moon for the subsequent landing of astronauts on it. In the first case, an entire asteroid with a diameter of 10 meters had to be delivered using an apparatus in the form of a bag, and in the second, a robotic arm had to take a boulder or a fragment of the asteroid. The agency settled on the second method. The chosen method is $ 100 million more expensive than the first option, but Lightfoot is confident in its advantages. The operation will cost NASA $ 1.25 billion.
For delivery, an automatic aircraft with a solar-powered engine is used. Operation Asteroid Redirect plans to conduct in December 2020. By reference - NASA animation, which shows the plan of operation.
The goal is asteroid 2008 EV5 discovered in 2008.
In 2025, two astronauts will go on the Orion to the Moon, where they will begin research on the asteroid. The size of the stone is unlikely to allow astronauts to simultaneously stand on it. Astronauts will go into outer space, and then return to Earth, taking samples with them.
Plan A
Plan B
Orion manned spacecraft makes its first flightat the end of 2014. He flew with a mass-dimensional layout of the service module, in which there were no engines, fuel and solar panels. The agency will have to check the device with working modules, after which it will be possible to start sending people into space. NASA plans to use Orion for flights to Mars, but first it needs to be checked at smaller distances - including for a flight to the moon.
NASA had two plans last yearfor the delivery of a cosmic body to the orbit of the moon for the subsequent landing of astronauts on it. In the first case, an entire asteroid with a diameter of 10 meters had to be delivered using an apparatus in the form of a bag, and in the second, a robotic arm had to take a boulder or a fragment of the asteroid. The agency settled on the second method. The chosen method is $ 100 million more expensive than the first option, but Lightfoot is confident in its advantages. The operation will cost NASA $ 1.25 billion.
For delivery, an automatic aircraft with a solar-powered engine is used. Operation Asteroid Redirect plans to conduct in December 2020. By reference - NASA animation, which shows the plan of operation.
The goal is asteroid 2008 EV5 discovered in 2008.
In 2025, two astronauts will go on the Orion to the Moon, where they will begin research on the asteroid. The size of the stone is unlikely to allow astronauts to simultaneously stand on it. Astronauts will go into outer space, and then return to Earth, taking samples with them.
Plan A
Plan B