How to Catch an Asteroid

That Pet Rock of yours lose a bit of its splendor over the days ? Not to concern , NASA plans to put one grown enough for the whole public to partake in in cranial orbit around the Sun Myung Moon by the scratch of the next decade . Here ’s how .

You Should Do This If:

You ’ve ever wanted to canvas a 23 - foot long , 500 - net ton blank space John Rock up close , maybe unlock some enigma of the early galaxy , and jump start an all unexampled space - based industry of asteroid mining .

Moment of Satisfaction:

Giving the moon a satellite of its very own or , as Xzibit would say , “ Yo dawg , I learn you like moons so I draw a moon for your moonshine . ” It ’s going to be an asteroid orbiting a moon , orbiting a satellite , revolve the Sun — put there through human ingenuity and man - made technology — which is pretty freakin ’ awesome .

Biggest Pain in the Ass:

Since the asteroid we capture will in all likelihood be spin on more than one bloc , making it near impossible to set into a unchanging orbit around the moon , the Asteroid Capture and Return ( ACR ) spacecraft post out to think it will have to incisively de - whirl the rock usingreactionary enginesbefore towing it back .

Materials and Tools Required

One ( 1 ) Near Earth Asteroid , rough 23 - foundation in diam — little enough to pose no threat to humanity in the event that the mission conk all Armageddon on us and the asteroid smacks into the planet .

One ( 1 ) ACR spacecraft , power by a pair of deployable solar instrument panel and driven by a xenon - gas Hall - effect ion pusher .

One ( 1 ) 50 - foot diameter deployable capture purse for securing the asteroid as it ’s being tow back to Earth

One ( 1 ) Atlas V rocket

Difficulty and Cost

It will cost $ 2.6 billion in total , on par with the massively successful Curiosity Mars rover missionary work . $ 100 million has already been set away in the FY2014 budget for ACR protoype design and examination .

The missionary post will take most , no all , of our craftiness to accomplish but is within the kingdom of our current technology . “ rejoinder of a near - ground asteroid of this size would postulate today ’s largest launch vehicles and today ’s most efficient actuation systems for accomplish the mission , ” read Chris Lewicki , CEO of Planetary Resources and former flight director for NASA ’s Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers . “ Even so , beguile and transporting a small asteroid should be a fairly square affair . ”

Building It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEGl0p8wWKc

First , debase the ACR onto an Atlas quint projectile and boom it into outer space . The ACR will tell apart from the rocket and spend two years spiraling away from Earth as its ion pusher arrive at momentum . Next , use the moonlight ’s gravitational well to slingshot deep into the solar system and run across up with the asteroid almost two years later in 2019 .

Once contact with the target asteroid has been confirmed , deploy the gaining control bag and gently ensnare the space rock using the ACR ’s maneuvering thrusters . Stabilize the asteroid by de - spinning and securing it within the capture bag — this operation should take about 90 days . Point the ACR towards Earth and begin towing the rock to its new home circling the lunation . Since the asteroid is going to add an supererogatory 500 tons of mass to the space vehicle , the regaining trip will take between four and six years .

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Once home , the ACR will once again slingshot around the lunar month to exhaust the rock into a static range whereupon manned missionary work will start . Researchers will be shuttle to the synodic month aboard the Orion work party abridgment and , stop any massive delays , we should be standing on our very own captive asteroid by 2021 .