US space agency is preparing the landing of American astronauts on an asteroid, but has not yet decided on what scenario will be the operation.
According to a press conference, NASA Assistant Director Robert Lightfoot, the decision in this regard will be made in early 2015, reports Tass.
According to the specialist, currently considered two versions of “hunting” for the asteroid. The first states that a small celestial body with a diameter of 10 meters will be started automatically machine that it nakinet metal net. As engineers say he “put him in the bag” and drag it to a stable orbit around the moon.
The second option assumes that the lunar orbit does not deliver the whole asteroid, but only a fragment the size of a large boulder.
In any case, it is expected that this mission will be able to realize no earlier than five years. Then – in about 2025 – NASA expects to send to an asteroid or a fragment thereof, which will revolve around the moon, manned spacecraft with the crew.
For these purposes is likely to be used a new ship Orion, which is December 5th successfully made its first test flight.
US space agency hopes that in the 2030s it will host the first human trip to Mars.
The authors of the project claim that it will help to prepare manned flight in deep space, including the Red Planet, and will ensure the safety of the Earth from asteroid threat. From this perspective, the experts try to analyze each of the two options available to them, the cost of which is estimated at about $ 1.25 billion.
Plan “A” is considered to be easier and a little cheaper. But a plan “B” gives “the opportunity to try a lot more necessary technologies,” said Lightfoot.
«Sooner or later, we still have to check them,” – said the representative of NASA.
He also noted that American experts enthusiastically continue to work on this project, which will be completely new in nature and “will allow people to go beyond low-Earth orbit.” To this end, discusses the various concept of creating an automatic machine, which is to “put a trap” for the asteroid. Do not stop and search for candidates for such an experiment. While on a sign at NASA six celestial bodies – three for each of the two options.
Recall, November 12 for the first time in history in outer space was made complicated scientific and technical operation – landing a spacecraft on a comet. Passing at a distance of 500 million kilometers from Earth, the mission of the European research module “Phil” is to find valuable information about the early stages of creation of the universe.
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