Lasso An Asteroid

[Wayne Goodwin]

Senator: NASA plans to lasso asteroid, bring closer to Earth

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 Friday.

The ship would capture the 500-ton, 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then, using an Orion space capsule, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next 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. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

[frenchy]

and then what do they do with this asteroid ?? have an asteroid rodeo ??