NASA has plans to capture an asteroid, using a robotic space lasso, then tow it in to the moon’s orbit where it can be explored and studied by astronauts.

Once the seven-metre rock has been captured by NASA’s Orion space capsule and the giant Space Launch System mega-rocket and is in stable orbit around the moon, astronauts will be able to visit. That will probably be around 2021.

So far, scientists at NASA have identified three prime  asteroid candidates which they could potentially capture. Senior scientist at NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office, Paul Chodas, told reporters in a teleconference:

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.

Science is cool.

[Source: Space.com]