ESA Panel Recommends Mission To Move An Asteroid

Based on the consideration of six studies submitted to the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2003, the Near-Earth Object Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP) recommended Friday that ESA focus on a mission to actually alter the orbital path of as asteroid. Such a mission would provide valuable insight on how to protect Earth from any potential impacts by large near-Earth objects (NEOs). The concept mission, dubbed Don Quijote, would use one spacecraft to study an asteroid over a several month period and then observe while a second craft smashes into the asteroid at a very high speed. Scientists would then observe the effects of the impact to determine the resulting change in the asteroid's orbit. Depending on the level of international coorperation, a mission could be launched as early as 2010-2015.

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