NASA is seeking proposals to help them with a project that involves capturing an asteroid and bringing it to a stable orbit around the moon, closer to our planet, to serve as a ground for new space studies.
According to the Broad Agency Announcement which was made public on March 21, the agency is ready to spend at least $6 million to 25 proposals. The proposals may tackle any of these related topics; robotic technologies to capture and drag the asteroid, technologies in putting the asteroid in a stable orbit, and potential action plans in helping astronauts gather space rocks and bring back some samples.
"We're reaching out to seek new and innovative ideas as we extend the frontier of space exploration," NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, BillGerstenmaier said in a news release. "To reach Mars, we'll rely on new technologies and advanced capabilities proven through the Asteroid Initiative. We're looking forward to exciting ideas from outside NASA as well to help realize that vision."
NASA is set to conduct an Asteroid Initiative Opportunities Forum at their headquarters in Washington on March 26. The forum, which will provide all details regarding the call for proposals, will also be live-streamed online. The live streaming for this event requires users to sign up beforehand. The proposals should be submitted before May 5 and the announcement of selected proposals will be on July 1.
The agency is currently supporting other projects which tap the creativity and ingenuity of citizen scientists. One such project is the Asteroid Data Hunter contest, a competition that offers $35,000 to the contestant who can come up with the most efficient and reliable algorithm for distinguishing asteroids. The project is conducted with Planetary Resources and is part of the Asteroid Grand Challenge Series.
