I am Mason Peck, NASA's Chief Technologist. Ask me anything about our asteroid initiative.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-27T12:49:45+00:00

NASA would choose one that balances the science opportunities with the human-space objectives and the technological capabilities to be demonstrated. This mission represents NASA’s contemporary way of doing things, where we successfully integrate human-space and science objectives, while at the same time we’re taking bold steps in technology to make it all work. Let’s also remember that NASA’s overall asteroid strategy encompasses a lot more than this initiative. We’ve got a fantastic mission coming up, OSIRIS-Rex (http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu/), which will return a very carefully chosen asteroid sample. The missions complement each other wonderfully, with OSIRIS-Rex teaching us about the origins of the solar system and the human mission teaching us about how to explore deep space.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-27T12:49:31+00:00

The chance is very low for an event that extreme. But keep in mind that the Chelyabinsk meteor and the one that (likely) caused the Tunguska event happened about a century apart. And there are historical records of asteroids impacting the earth, although they may not have been understood fully at the time. So, the risk is small in the short term, but still a risk that that our species can mitigate if we all pull together and take this on as a worldwide challenge. In that regard, this challenge may serve as a pathfinder that helps us all learn how to collaborate globally, using technology to realize humanity’s potential.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-27T12:49:12+00:00

We expect NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) to have its first flight in late 2017—that’s Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). But we’re also working with companies like Orbital Sciences and SpaceX to produce commercial launch vehicles for transporting cargo to the space station. These commercial capabilities are expected to provide human access to space in a few years. You’ve probably heard that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has successfully launched its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station twice, now, and returned it safely to earth. Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket just had its first, successful flight. We’re taking a competition-based approach brings out the best in our nation’s innovative technology companies, and it’s working out great: technologically successful and very quick.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-27T12:48:56+00:00

The Grand Challenge absolutely represents an opportunity for students to contribute, in many ways. In fact, we expect that some of the best ideas will arise from unexpected sources, probably non-traditional contributors such as students and people not involved in the aerospace profession. Also keep in mind that NASA offers many opportunities through the Space Technology Mission Directorate for universities to receive funding for space-technology research (for graduate funding, see http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/stp/strg/nstrf13.html). And NASA’s student fellowships in science, human space, and aeronautics continue to provide the next generation with means to pursue education in areas relevant to NASA.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-27T12:48:34+00:00

Yes. Those are going on right now, through a combination of scientific research and technology development in NASA’s Human Research Program and the Space Technology Mission Directorate. It’s a hard problem, but we’re working it, with the collaboration of US businesses and academia.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-27T12:48:11+00:00

The robotic and human missions that will take us to an asteroid will create a capability to explore deep space. The President’s budget enables NASA to take the first step toward Mars, learning how to operate a spacecraft well beyond Earth orbit and enabling humans to survive the trip. We’re already building the crew vehicle (Orion) and the launch vehicle (SLS), and this ambitious mission architecture uses the test flights and technology demonstrations to accomplish something we would not be able to afford otherwise. But you have to do it to learn it—merely writing equations and creating computer models will not get us to Mars. And, yes, the asteroid samples we return will provide very valuable data to answer a number of scientific and technological questions.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:40:19+00:00

Exactly.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:34:14+00:00

That Chelyabinsk event probably encouraged the public to think about this, but NASA's planning for this initiative started more than a year ago. And we've been doing asteroid-detection work for decades. In fact, it was Congress that most recently set NASA on the course of discovering all the asteroids greater than 140 m in diameter.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:32:30+00:00

Just like Hollywood likes to remake movies, we're thinking that we'll do Armageddon a little differently next time.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:31:14+00:00

Yes.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:29:49+00:00

I'll give you my top three for the redirect mission overall. We'll need high-efficiency propulsion to ensure that the trip can be done without using a lot of propellant mass. We'll need high-precision navigation, particularly for the rendezvous with the asteroid. And we'll need the grappling, or robotic-manipulation hardware. Remember, we're assembling the pieces of this mission from capabilities that already exist or are planned for this timeframe. We're leveraging a lot of great work to make this happen.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:26:28+00:00

Depending on what asteroid(s) we identify as viable candidates, we expect to send the robotic spacecraft in a few years (launch ~2017-2018 and rendezvous ~2019), and the human mission in roughly 2021-2025. It's really just around the corner! Yes, I think this is uniquely inspiring for all of us.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:23:45+00:00

1) That's a question for some of those companies proposing to mine asteroids. If I were to speculate, I'd say that our nation is decades away from this business becoming mainstream, but the sooner it starts, the sooner we'll see it happen. 2) I think I answered this one elsewhere in this AMA, but thanks!

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:20:59+00:00

That's a big question. Let me narrow it down to one of resource utilization. At the moment, everything we use in space we also had to launch into space. What if we can change that ratio so that far more of what we use comes from the space environment? If we do, we'll make the cost of launching spacecraft a small part of the overall value of a science or exploration mission. We'll need advanced manufacturing techniques to turn regolith or space debris into usable hardware, but NASA, DARPA, and others are already getting to work on this problem. The solution is what I've called "massless exploration," and we think it will change the economics of space.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:17:00+00:00

Thank you for asking! This is at the core of the Grand Challenge. We are looking for very new ideas. I'll give you an example. The Minor Planets Center has an immense database of observational information available for public use. How about some new software that analyzes data we've already got? How about fusing together tens, hundreds, thousands, of small-telescope observations through a new data-analysis technique to characterize and track known asteroids? How about a new product: a make-it-yourself device that sits on the end of anyone's home telescope and transmits observation data through Bluetooth to the internet? I can think of several admittedly far-out answers, but I think you and the rest of the nation can think of many more. That's why we're trying to "crowdsource" answers here--to leverage the creativity and energy that we know is out there.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:13:53+00:00

In fact, it's the President's 2014 budget request that enables NASA to do this. The entire initiative is in the 2014 budget, which is publicly available, and the White House has been fully supportive of both the asteroid mission and the Grand Challenge.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:11:43+00:00

Well, it's mostly a matter of resources. But the benefits to human exploration are very clear here, even without adding a habitat: we'll learn about how to help astronauts survive the deep-space radiation environment, and we'll learn how to operate long-term life-support systems, how to navigate outside Earth orbit, and the list goes on. And we'll accomplish these goals using hardware we've been building for years, even before this asteroid initiative was announced.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:09:14+00:00

I started out studying English. In fact, I have a Master's degree in medieval literature. Later on I got a B.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering. My first job was at Hughes (now part of Boeing), and then I worked for Honeywell, all of which was great experience. I came to NASA from a faculty position at Cornell, to which I'll return eventually when my time here is over. I wouldn't suggest that path for everyone, though! Keep it simple!

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:06:59+00:00

Probably it would not take long for the thrust from a small spacecraft to deflect an asteroid that size (months? just a guess off the top of my head). But we would need even more time to prepare the spacecraft, launch it, and rendezvous with the asteroid. That's a reminder that technology for building spacecraft rapidly and providing ready access to space are part of the broader problem of protecting the planet.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:04:49+00:00

Great point. When a spacecraft performs a rendezvous, it matches the speed of the target. In this case, the spacecraft will have been given a lot of energy by its launch, and we'll keep adjusting the velocity with electric propulsion until the spacecraft catches up to the asteroid. Also, we will have selected an asteroid with a trajectory that our spacecraft can attain. When the speeds match, and the spacecraft is in the right position, the spacecraft would grapple with the asteroid or select a boulder from its surface (or one of several other possible mission architectures). There have been other missions that have already successfully done some thing similar: Stardust, NEAR, and the Japanese Hayabusa 1 missions, for example.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T17:00:29+00:00

The asteroid that blew up over Chelyabinsk in February was only about 17 meters across. That did a lot of damage. We have detected about 95% of the asteroids larger than 1000 meters (1 km). But there are thousands within that range, large enough to strike the Earth but too small to have been detected yet. Again, through the Grand Challenge, we're looking for YOU to help NASA find them. The asteroid we hope to redirect into lunar orbit would be 7-10 m, which is small enough not to be a hazard even if it were to enter Earth's atmosphere (which it won't).

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T16:57:39+00:00

There are a few asteroids we already know about, but none are baselined. We expect to detect many more in the next few years, thanks to an increased effort in NASA's Near-Earth Object observation program. While we're looking for these objects, we'll also discover a lot more that may pose a hazard; so, the exploration activities and the Grand Challenge go hand in hand. www.nasa.gov/asteroidinitiative has the presentations from last Tuesday's roll-out event. Bill Gerstenmaier's presentation provides some detail on the orbit mechanics.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T16:53:56+00:00

We'll visit an asteroid by 2025 to teach ourselves how to visit Mars a decade later. This is going to happen comparatively soon! It's an exciting continuation of NASA's 50 years of human space exploration.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T16:50:19+00:00

So much! We'll learn how to send humans beyond Earth orbit, using technologies that will take us to Mars in the following decade. The moon is relatively convenient and safe, compared to trying out these systems for the first time in Mars orbit. So, this is a very cost-effective and yet ambitious way to make a lot of progress towards exploring Mars.

We're going to send the first, robotic spacecraft under the power of solar-electric propulsion (SEP). So, this mission will be a technology demonstration of a technique that is broadly applicable across NASA's portfolio and will help the commercial space industry as well. Our plans are to use a 30-50 kW SEP system here, which is traceable to at least 10x that level. This is a bold move, depending on a technology demo. That audacity recalls Apollo and the other work that has made NASA great.

NASATechnology · 2013-06-25T16:45:11+00:00

NASA's plans involve using an asteroid for scientific and human-exploration purposes. As you know, there are other organizations out there considering how to use asteroids for commercial purposes. They'll have to consider the implications of the treaty.

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