NASA is seriously considering the idea of "catching" an asteroid and dragging it into orbit around the moon.
A publication in NewScientist reports that the Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech has submitted an ambitious proposal to create an unmanned spacecraft that will aim to capture a small asteroid.
The craft will drag the asteroid towards the moon and set it in motion so that it will be in orbit around our natural satellite.
Researchers from the Institute told NewScientist that NASA is seriously considering the project.
It is estimated that the mission would cost about $2.6 billion – a little more than the $2.5 billion currently spent by NASA on the Curiosity rover's Mars rides.
NASA has many plans, and they're quite expensive. Currently, NASA's official plans include two manned space flights that would include sending a crewed capsule, called Orion, around the moon. The Obama administration has also said it also wants to send astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid. One proposed target, chosen for its scientific value and favorable conditions for a rendezvous, is a space rock called 1999 AO10. The mission would last about six months and would be quite risky, exposing the astronauts to long-term radiation beyond Earth's protective magnetic field and taking them beyond the reach of a potential rescue.
