Mission to bring people to asteroids

NASA plans to train a group of astronauts to land on the asteroid, a vision that seems only in movies.

>>>NASA takes people to asteroids farther than the moon

The latest survey results collected by WISE telescope have identified about 4,700 asteroids capable of threatening the earth, while so far experts have only kept an eye on about 400 'assassins'. . There are many potential targets for the upcoming mission of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA), namely asteroids with low oblique orbits around the sun, according to AFP. NASA is planning to send astronauts to an asteroid to study its surface, mine minerals and practice the skills needed to destroy this object in a dangerous situation. Such a goal could be 4.8 million kilometers from the Earth, beyond the human mission made more than 40 years ago as the moon, which is only about 384,600km from the globe.

NEEMO program trains astronauts
Familiarize yourself with harsh conditions on asteroids

Asteroids are not a pleasant destination, since they travel at about 80,500km / h around the sun, there is almost no gravity because the size is too small. However, a group of astronauts began preparing for such a mission. In the following month, the selected people will launch special training programs to learn how to operate the devices, perform space walks and collect specimens on the asteroid surface. A total of 6 participants will be sent to the underwater base off the state of Florida, where they will spend 12 days living in depths of 20m in the Atlantic to simulate a low gravity environment on an asteroid. During the training, the astronauts will also test manufacturing equipment dedicated to this particular mission. It is a 13m long, 6m wide submarine, where they will eat, sleep on a part of NEEMO (short for NASA's Severe Environmental Mission program). Before rising to the surface, the astronauts need to reduce the pressure for at least 12 hours.

NASA officials will publish details of the mission to bring people to asteroids in a conference held in late May in Japan. In the report to be presented at the Japan Geophysical Union Conference, experts plan to launch unmanned spacecraft equipped with robotic arms to collect specimens in 2016, before sending astronauts. In the late 2020s. To reach the intended goal, about 4.8 million kilometers from Earth, astronauts take a year to go. They can stay on an asteroid for up to 30 days. While the first and most important goal is scientific research, the skills acquired when manipulating the asteroid's surface can save humanity from catastrophe, someday in the future. . Not to mention, this is an opportunity to test technologies that allow people to finally reach Mars.