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Billion-Dollar Road Trip Will Bring Space Boulder Into Lunar Orbit
NASA plans to send a spacecraft to an asteroid, pluck a boulder from its surface, and put it in orbit around the moon.
NASA is going on a $1.25-billion road trip, and all we’re getting is this lousy boulder.
Today, the space agency announced a modified plan for its Asteroid Redirect Mission: Instead of bringing an entire asteroid back to lunar orbit, an uncrewed spacecraft will snag a boulder.
“We’re going to have a sensor suite on the spacecraft that will allow us to actually look at the boulders and actually make an educated choice about which ones we’re going to pull,” says NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “Let’s get on with it.”
As described during a news conference, NASA will select a final destination for its spacecraft in 2019. There’s already a space-rock short list that includes Itokawa, Bennu, and 2008
