Orion Asteroid Mission

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = Orion Asteroid Mission
insignia = Constellation logo white.svg
launch_vehicle = Ares I
launch_pad = Launch Pad 39B
launch = mid-2020's
landing = TBC
duration = ~90-120 days
altitude = –4.5 million mi. (–6.9 million mi.) max. distance from Earth
inclination = TBD
distance = TBD
crew_photo =
crew_caption =
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The Orion Asteroid Mission is a proposed mission to a Near-Earth Asteroid using the standard Orion spacecraft and a landing module based on Altair. If carried out, it would be the first manned mission beyond both the Earth and the Moon and would allow NASA to develop techniques to both protect the Earth from an impact from such objects, as well as preparation for the first manned human expedition to Mars after 2030.

The mission would start like that of any standard Constellation lunar landing mission, with an Ares V launching the landing module into Low Earth Orbit, followed by the launch of an Orion spacecraft, with a two or three person crew (as opposed to a four person crew for lunar missions) on an Ares I rocket. Once the Orion spacecraft docks with the landing module and the Earth Departure Stage, the EDS would then fire again and propel the Orion spacecraft to a nearby Near-Earth Asteroid, preferably 99942 ApophisFact|date=July 2008, where the crew would then land and explore its surface.

Once their task is completed, the Orion spacecraft will then depart from the asteroid, and, upon reaching the vicinity of Earth, would jettison both the Service Module and the landing module in a manner similar to that of Apollo 13 (ie. separating the Service Module before the landing module) before entering the atmosphere for a Pacific Ocean splashdown. [cite magazine | url=http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100017159&docId=l:681629004&start=6 | title=NASA's New Target | last=Stover | first=Dawn | publisher=Popular Science | date=November 2007 | accessdate=2007-12-05]

ee also

*List of Constellation missions

References