Robot to kiss asteroid…
For the first time, NASA will visit an asteroid and bring something back. A robotic spacecraft called OSIRIS-Rex is scheduled to launch in 2016, arriving at the near-Earth asteroid 1999 RQ36 in 2020. There it will collect more than 55 grams of dust, which it will return to Earth in 2023. Last year, Japan’s Hayabusa probe brought 1500 grains of dust back to Earth from the asteroid Itokawa.
…before humans visit?
NASA also plans to send humans into deep space – in a craft based on the Orion capsule, which was originally designed for trips to…
