Quick! Someone Call Bruce Willis... And Aerosmith!

Usually it happens the other way around... but this time NASA is taking some cues from Hollywood on a possible future mission to an asteroid. Luckily, this one isn't on a collision course with Earth.

Once considered a threat, the asteroid named 2000SG344 is no longer a risk says NASA, but its close proximity as a Near-Earth Object (NEO) makes it a good candidate for a mission to help scientists understand more about the birth of the solar system, and how best to defend against Earth-threatening asteroids.

The London Daily Telegraph reported this week a study slated to be published next month by NASA outlines a plan to utilize the next-generation Orion space vehicle to deliver a two-person pod to the surface of the asteroid as it travels through space at 28,000 mph.

"An asteroid will one day be on a collision course with Earth. Doesn't it make sense, after going to the moon, to start learning more about them?" said Rob Landis, an engineer at Johnson Space Center and co-author of the report, which is due to be published in the journal Acta Astronautica.

Scientists at Houston's Johnson Space Center and the Ames Research Center in California envision the mission as a way to familiarize astronauts to more complex missions as a stepping stone to future exploration of the Solar System. The report recommends such a mission to take place shortly after the NASA plan to revisit the moon after 2020.

"Our study shows it makes perfect sense to do this soon after going back to the Moon," said Landis.

Veteran astronaut Tom Jones reinforced the importance of such a mission in a 2006 interview. "Near-Earth object exploration is especially important if the Moon turns out to be bereft of extractable resources," Jones pointed out. "Astronauts could collect a rich array of samples from the most scientifically interesting sites on the near-Earth object -- dating back to the earliest days of the solar system -- set up a pilot resource extraction experiment and demonstrate technology necessary for a future near-Earth object deflection mission."

Scientists also note experimentation on the asteroid surface could allow the agency to gain insight on technologies where subsurface ice could be converted into drinking water, breathable oxygen, or even hydrogen for spacecraft propulsion.

The report elaborates beyond technology to also address human factors concerns as the three-month mission would test the psychological effects of long-term missions as well as the risks of working in deep space.

Such insights would aid in the planning of NASA's planned two-year Mars expedition.

FMI: www.nasa.gov