NASA is appraising a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid—gauging the scientific merit of the endeavor while testing out spacecraft gear, as well as mastering techniques that could prove useful if a space rock ever took aim for our planet.
Space agency teams are looking into use of Constellation hardware for a human Near-Earth Object (NEO) mission—an effort underway at NASA’s Ames Research. Another study is delving into use of Constellation components to support an automated Mars sample return mission. That study is led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
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Astronauts, engineers and scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas have been looking into the capabilities of the Orion vehicle for a mission to a near-Earth asteroid.
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“A human mission to a near Earth asteroid would be scientifically worthwhile,” said Chris McKay, deputy scientist in the Constellation science office at the NASA Johnson Space Center. “It could be part of an overall program of understanding these objects. Also, it would be useful, instrumentally, in terms of understanding the threat they pose to the Earth.”
This sounds great...if its really going to not hamper getting to Mars and back to the moon. If we can extend the human presence all over the solar system and get some experience with playing with asteroids, all the better! However, Mars is uber importante in my not so humble opinion and people in history are probably less likely to remember the first walk on an asteroid than the first walk on Mars. The US has already placed itself permamently in the history books by being the first to walk on the moon...let's extend that. It's VERY emabrassing that its going to have taken us 50 years to get from the moon to mars. Let's not make it worse with mission creep. However, if we can go visit the NEO asteroids too I'm all for it.
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