$6,000,000.00 Up for Grabs

We send up one rocket, then another rocket with a payload of fuel....We'll need a modular design, but not aerodynamic, which means the fuel tank can be attached to the existing rocket....this will make for a long distance high speed rocket with the capability to reach an asteroid and match it's speed.... then deploy capture net and alter course and speed for moon orbit....

Where's netmaker when you need him?!

I was thinking the same....

Right here! Listening to all of this.

Years ago I contacted NASA about a net system to catch some of the 'trash' orbiting the earth. I got a short note saying that the use of any net would be unthinkable.

Then, a few years later, THIS showed up. Its a different concept from what I envisioned , but the thought remains....I would have liked to be able to present my idea as well.

With the new super high tensile strength poly twines available today, I could see a few scenarios....There is no wind ,tide or currents so net deployment would be critical phase BUT that was worked out years ago in my original proposal.

Yes! it could be tried and it could be within the realm of possibility. I just do not know who to contact as NASA is soooo huge and an email or letter can get quickly mis-directed or just dropped in the Nut-Job-Whacko Suggestion Box.

Keep me in the loop.....I always wanted to catch a giant squid, but i'll settle for a small asteroid!

Tell me why we'd engage in this lunacy?

It must be because somebody gave NASA a $100,000,000,000.00 USD gift card that will expire by 2025 if not spent on some daffy worthless project.

We still don't know much about the moon: After 40 Years Moon Rocks Still Revealing Secrets - Universe T, and we still don't know how to predict the weather here on Earth. Global warning? What really causes that? Nobody knows. Earthquakes? Nobody knows. AIDS? Famine? Fossil fuel alternatives?

Sorry, can't get excited about this.

Money...why else...exploration....

Moon rocks? really a puff piece from 5 years ago....we're talking the future here...These asteroids could be worth billions, and the knowledge and techniques gained, could one day save this planet...it's not much use of curing aids to have the planet destroyed by some errant asteroid....perhaps the cure is to be found riding on this asteroid,, who knows?

Keep dreamin'.

We sent men to the moon in 1969. Today we can't even send them to orbit. Mars in 2030...yeah, sure!

We send people into orbit nearly every month...

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/schedule/#.Uy48fvldWSo

Who's "we"?

Not the USA, we can't do that anymore and Space X is not man rated yet. Test flights (manned) are scheduled in 2015 if all goes well.

As far as Russia goes, they may take their ball and jacks and just go home if we continue to irritate them with sanctions.

Always the negative vibes...

I just heard this morning that we are eliminating the word "bossy".

_{We are so screwed.}

Who's we?

YOU

Not ME!

You responded to AH.

I'm always negative anyway so there.

Happy Saturday night!

Yes, I want you to know I get up in the morning, grab a nice cup of hot chocolate, and specifically hunt down all your posts so I can get in the right mood to start my day. :-)

I'll try to say something righteous and hopeful for a change.

Oh, that's sad to hear. :-)

Space suits with pockets.....hmmmm.

It is where you hold the $1000 screwdrivers ... but maybe NASA pays an extra premium?

plenty of technical problems but none is greater than getting a captured rock to orbit. to do that you're going to need a lot of speed. you cant just bring one close and have it sit in a geosynchronous orbit. the moon isn't massive but it does have gravity so it will draw slow moving close objects crashing to its surface.

The article is not very specific; they say pull the asteroid into "the Moon's orbit." I take that to mean the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. If so, it could be parked on the other side of Earth. But if they want the asteroid to orbit the Moon...scary idea. In either case 3-body astrophysics is hairy stuff, not something I'd want in our neighborhood. If I get a vote , I say we send robots to the asteroids.

Along the same theme as AussieBob's URL here's a nice orbital mechanics tutorial from a master.

More of a two body specialist though....

I put my butterfly net to one side, looked at my Miners' Right framed on the wall, and thought that it just requires a change of bait and the asteroid is ours for the sharing. Cleo and Oscar (cats I occupy shelter with), rejected the lamb packet food but when changed to country chicken, they returned quick time and dined away until it was all gone.

So back to the asteroid. If we had convinced the Russians that an asteroid was a great place for the wintergames, then they may have spent more than the estimated $50 Billion to stage the Sochi Olympics. That's around 8000 times more than NASA is offering.

OK, I think it is time to sell a whole heap of Miners' Rights lottery tickets to fund the purchase of my super auxetic butteryfly net. NASA and me might make a cool profit on this one!

Minin' rights ya say??

Yup .... $25 and you have skin in the game, provided you stay clear of crops, airfields, houses and burial grounds. Oh yes ... the prospecting site has to be 'Western Australian crown land' so we might need a legal opinion on that one and/or someone who heads up the NASA mission with a Union Jack flag in their backpack. I am sure we can pickup and sell a couple of thousand British Flags from China to cover this small point.

So if we can get the website up (with credit card facilities), and offer a package deal, maybe $100 for the Miners' Right, the flag and an (asteroid) treasure map, I am sure we could do quite well by the end of this month and count all the money the next day .... April 1. Isn't this why Kickstarter was born?

too whacko, it'll never happen

I'm curious so I clicked the link. That source wants me to subscribe to read the rest of the article.

Didn't do it - not that curious.

When you get blocked like that just copy the title and search the news....you can usually find an alternate source....like this

http://www.space.com/23016-nasa-asteroid-capture-mission-minimoons.html

It has already been taken care of. In the movie shown on TCM, called "Green Slime", they blew up an asteroid that was threatening earth.

.....so, is FRICTION the same in outer space as it is on Earth?