NASA to bring asteroid closer to Earth for exploration

WASHINGTON -- NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top senator said yesterday.

The ship would capture the 500-ton, 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, a crew of astronauts would nuzzle up to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration, according to a government document obtained by The Associated Press.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said the plan would speed up by four years the existing mission to land astronauts on an asteroid by bringing the space rock closer to Earth.

Nelson, who is chairman of the Senate science and space subcommittee, said that President Barack Obama is putting $100 million in planning money for the accelerated asteroid mission in the 2014 budget that comes out next week.

"It's a great combination of our robotic and human capabilities to do the kind of thing that NASA should be doing in this century," said Robert Braun, an engineering professor who used to be NASA's chief technology officer.

Last year, the Keck Institute for Space Studies proposed a similar mission for NASA with a price tag of $2.6 billion. There is no cost estimate for the space agency's version.

While there are thousands of asteroids around 25 feet, finding the right one that comes by Earth at just the right time to be captured will not be easy, said Donald Yeomans, who heads NASA's Near Earth Object program, which monitors close-by asteroids.

Yeomans said a 25-foot asteroid is no threat to Earth because it would burn up should it enter Earth's atmosphere.