The destination is to get man to Mars by the mid-2030s , but what are the stepping Stone that will get us there ? return to the Moon pay off a portion of packaging , but the full test might be a near - solid ground asteroid .
Space.com columnist Leonard David has an intriguing feature on Lockheed Martin ’s research into sending astronauts to a near - land asteroid by the mid-2020s . dub the “ Plymouth Rock ” charge , landing on an asteroid would n’t only be a large dress rehearsal for the long trip to Mars ; it could also allow us to set up planetary defence against asteroid impingement . ( Armageddon is turning into a documentary so slowly , no one ’s even comment . )
He quote Lockheed Martin ’s Josh Hopkins , who explain just how tight we are to transport man to asteroid :
“ We expected asteroid missions to be soundly unmanageable and further in the hereafter . What we chance on is that they are within ambit of the technologies that we ’re ready to field today . We could do an asteroid delegacy within a decade . I think we ’re a lot more potential to win if we get started and fly rather rather than by and by . ”
Check out his article atSpace.comfor more .
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