NASA Releases Asteroid Redirect Mission Animation

We’ve previously described NASA’s plan to capture an asteroid and drag it into orbit around the Moon. Following the successful capture of the asteroid, NASA plans to launch a manned mission in a new space capsule which would rendezvous with the asteroid in lunar orbit and the astronauts would then spacewalk to examine the space rock and take samples. The entire mission is known as the “Asteroid Redirect Mission” and is considered a somewhat nonsensical plan which came out of nowhere. The mission has been the point of controversy among scientists and politicians who must approve the budget.

In the meantime, NASA created this animated video showing how the manned mission would travel to the orbiting asteroid and retrieve samples.