Did we just enter into the new era of asteroid hunting?
It seems yes!!
On Friday, Senator Bill Nelson stated that NASA is planning to develop a spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it next to the moon so that astronauts and scientists can explore it.
The asteroid is 500-tons and 25 feet in length. It will be captured in 2019, and in 2021, a group of four astronauts will start spacewalking exploration.
Interestingly, Sen. Nelson declared on Friday that the President Barak Obama will allocate more than $100 million to accelerate the project by finding a better small sized asteroid.
This is will be the first time man attempts to manipulate space objects at a grand scale like this one, and it will something great for NASA to achieve in this century.
However, finding the right asteroid with the right size and the right time to pass by earth is not that easy.
For all those of you who are worried about the damage that the asteroid might cause to Earth, I assure you that a 25-foot asteroid will burn up completely in case it entered Earth’s atmosphere.
Other than the interesting scientific explorations that NASA will achieve by studying the asteroid, such a project will help NASA nudge away any dangerous asteroid heading to Earth any time in the future.
So let us wait and see what will happen. Personally, I am very excited for this project!
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