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Image Credit: NASA
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The asteroid catching spacecraft to be used for this mission will be powered by advanced solar-electric propulsion, using ion thrusters designed and built at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ion propulsion works by zapping an inert gas, such as xenon, with an electrical charge to produce fast-flowing exhaust gas. Providing low thrust over long periods of time, ion propulsion can gradually produce a spacecraft speed of over 200,000 mhp, while using ten times less fuel than traditional rocket engines. This type of propulsion, which has already been used in smaller version by 200 or so commercial satellites since its invention at the Glenn center, makes longer space voyages more feasible.
Current plans call for the robotic capture and redirect spacecraft (which has not yet been named) to be launched in 2017. Various designs for the asteroid capture mechanism are still under consideration. One design concept calls for the use of a large inflatable bag to surround a small free-floating asteroid. Another concept envisions using robotic arms to remove a piece of a larger asteroid.
Meanwhile, work is underway to identify and characterize near-earth asteroids that might be candidates for capture. This effort also will increase our knowledge of asteroid characteristics and help to identify near-earth asteroids that may pose a collision threat, as described in Hunting Asteroids.
