NASA hangs on the asteroid

The US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) is announcing awards of up to $ 6 million for projects that can help lead asteroids into orbit around the moon for research.

>>>NASA opens an "asteroid" contest

NASA is accepting proposals related to technological innovations that allow 'trapping' asteroids from distant space and safely pulling them closer to Earth.

NASA hopes to send astronauts to take samples from a future asteroid - (Photo: NASA)

This is part of the Asteroids Redirect Mission, implemented by NASA, to pave the way for the mission to send people to Mars in the 2030s, according to Space.com.

The US space agency plans to spend up to $ 6 million for more than 25 proposals this year.

Project proposals need to focus on technologies that can be used to identify potential targets, such as sending a robotic spacecraft to catch a pre-selected asteroid and placing it in the moon's orbit. .

The selected technology must also support bringing astronauts to the meteorite and bringing the specimen back to Earth, with a planned deployment time in the mid-2020s.

Proposals should be submitted to NASA before May 5 and the names of winners will be announced on July 1.

In the next year, the US space agency will consider concepts of missions that redirect an asteroid about 10 meters across, or break a piece from a large asteroid and bring it back to Earth.