NASA postpones decision on asteroid mission design
Posted: Thu, Dec 18, 2014, 7:50 AM ET (1250 GMT)
NASA has pushed back a decision on what option it will choose for its planned Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), asking teams at the agency to study additional issues about the two proposed concepts. NASA associate administrator Robert Lightfoot said Wednesday that he originally planned to make a decision on which of two options for the mission to pursue after receiving briefings about them earlier this week. However, the two options were so closely matched that he asked teams to take the next two to three weeks to study them further, with a decision thus pushed back to January. In one option, a robotic spacecraft would redirect an entire asteroid, up to ten meters across, into orbit around the Moon. An alternative option would send a robotic spacecraft to a larger asteroid and grab a boulder a few meters across from its surface to send back to lunar orbit. Lightfoot suggested the second option tested more technologies that could be used for later exploration missions, but also carried with it additional cost and complexity.
NASA has pushed back a decision on what option it will choose for its planned Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), asking teams at the agency to study additional issues about the two proposed concepts. NASA associate administrator Robert Lightfoot said Wednesday that he originally planned to make a decision on which of two options for the mission to pursue after receiving briefings about them earlier this week. However, the two options were so closely matched that he asked teams to take the next two to three weeks to study them further, with a decision thus pushed back to January. In one option, a robotic spacecraft would redirect an entire asteroid, up to ten meters across, into orbit around the Moon. An alternative option would send a robotic spacecraft to a larger asteroid and grab a boulder a few meters across from its surface to send back to lunar orbit. Lightfoot suggested the second option tested more technologies that could be used for later exploration missions, but also carried with it additional cost and complexity.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, March 19
Firefly Aerospace Selected for the 2025 Robert J. Collier Trophy
National Aeronautic Association — 5:22 am ET (0922 GMT) Satellite development begins for EUMETSAT Polar System – Sterna
EUMETSAT — 5:22 am ET (0922 GMT) Minotaur IV rocket motor stacking at Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex-8
US Space Force — 5:20 am ET (0920 GMT) MDA Space awarded contract with Canadian Department of National Defence to deliver Ground-Based Optical Capability for Space Surveillance
MDA — 5:18 am ET (0918 GMT) Rocket Lab wins record contract with US Department of War
Radio New Zealand — 5:17 am ET (0917 GMT) |
