A Different Rock Around the Sun?

By: Dennis Rayburn
11/29/2009

In the movies Armageddon, and Deep Impact, the film makers presented a similar but yet different story to moviegoers. In these two movies, Earth faces approaching disaster. In Armageddon, the danger is an asteroid on a collision course with the planet. In Deep Impact, the danger is in the form of a comet. In both movies, a space mission is put together to attempt to stop the threat. In both movies, the original plan was to land on the approaching threat, plant a nuclear bomb, leave and then blow the thing to kingdom come.

Moviegoers watch these films and then leave, convinced that such a mission, while thankfully not needed at this time, is a pure work of fiction. Well, believe it or not, while it will not be a mission like the one in the two movies, there are proposals for a space mission to an asteroid. This idea out of science fiction is being promoted by Lockheed Martin, the builders of the new Orion spacecraft and according to reports, the proposed mission is gaining support in NASA.

Under the proposed mission, the Orion would journey to a preselected asteroid and park near the space rock. Instead of landing on it, astronauts would go to the asteroid via rocket packs somewhat similar to the ones used in spacewalks of late. Once they are on the asteroid, the astronauts would attach scientific instruments and collect samples, much like was done on the Moon. The mission would possibly stay at the rock for a period of time ranging from five days to a week or two before starting the journey home. There would be no landing attempt in order to protect the crew.

According to reports, the mission is being proposed as a sort of shakedown mission for the new spacecraft. It would also give man experience in exploration of a body deeper in space, and a through testing of the new ships before a mission to such a far off place as Mars is undertaken.

As unbelievable as this sounds, it could become a reality in a couple of decades, partly because the new Orion and its launch vehicle, the Ares will not be ready for any manned flights for about five years and will have to have shakedown missions in Earth orbit before such a mission as I've described here could be undertaken.

Frankly, this is very exciting news. After taking his first steps into the great beyond which is space, man, for whatever reason, retreated back to Earth and just hung around in Earth orbit while sending robots, rovers, and satellites to explore other worlds. While those machines are amazing, there is no replacement for the curiosity and man's need to explore. This would be a wondrous mission for men to undertake and I hope I get to see it happen. Once again, science fiction starts to become science fact.

See you next time!

Photos:  msnbc.com, space.com

Author: Dennis Rayburn

Dennis Rayburn is a columnist for Roddenberry.com. His column, "Two Strips of Latinum" appears every Sunday through Thursday.
Contact: drayburn@roddenberry.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/drayburn
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