ARM is a robotic spacecraft designed to support NASA’s journey to Mars by capturing boulders from asteroids that are near Earth, moving them into a more stable orbit around the moon. This will allow a more secure environment for the astronauts to explore the boulders for the journey to Mars.
The original plan of an unmanned craft capturing an entire asteroid was changed to grabbing a boulder from the asteroid, according to NASA’s Wednesday announcement.
According to a NASA press release, “The Asteroid Redirect Mission will provide an initial demonstration of several spaceflight capabilities we will need to send astronauts deeper into space, and eventually, to Mars,” said NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “The option to retrieve a boulder from an asteroid will have a direct impact on planning for future human missions to deep space and begin a new era of spaceflight.”
In the mid-2020s, NASA is planning to test additional capabilities that will be needed for future human expeditions to deep space, which will include Mars. So far, the detection of near-Earth asteroids has increased by 65% since launching the ARM mission three years ago. According to NASA, the mission will be a “multi-year” journey.
The deadline for NASA to announce which asteroid will be selected for the mission is no later than 2019, about a year before launching the robotic spacecraft. Testing of the asteroid will involve its characteristics, shape, precise orbit, size, and rotation.
So far, the candidates for the mission are Itokawa, Bennue and 2008 EV5. NASA is expecting to add up to two more candidates each year leading up to the mission.
