NASA Issues RFI on Asteroid Redirect Mission
In this concept image, the robotic vehicle descends to the surface of a large asteroid to collect a boulder that it can redirect to a distant retrograde lunar orbit. (Credit: NASA)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking ideas from American companies for a spacecraft design that could be used for both the agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) and a robotic satellite servicing mission in low-Earth orbit.
In the early-2020s NASA plans to launch the Asteroid Redirect Mission, which will use a robotic spacecraft to capture a large boulder from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid and move it into a stable orbit around the moon for exploration by astronauts, all in support of advancing the nation’s journey to Mars.
NASA also has been studying the “Restore-L” mission concept, during which a spacecraft would use dexterous robotic systems to grapple and refuel a government satellite in low-Earth orbit. Restore-L would bring to operational status capabilities needed for future commercial satellite servicing by demonstrating technologies and reducing risk.
“Today’s call for ideas from our industry partners is another important milestone for the Asteroid Redirect Mission, a critical capability demonstration mission that’s part of our stepping stone approach for sending American astronauts to Mars in the 2030s,” said NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot. “As part of our acquisition strategy, we’re asking for more information toward the ARM spacecraft concept and also on commonality with a notional robotic satellite servicing spacecraft.”
The RFI is not a request for proposal or formal procurement and therefore is not a solicitation or commitment by the government. Deadline for submissions is 45 days after public posting of the RFI. The full RFI is available at:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/arm-spacecraft-bus-request-for-information
Following its rendezvous and touchdown with the target asteroid, the uncrewed ARM spacecraft will deploy robotic arms to capture a large boulder from its surface. It then will begin a multi-year journey to redirect the boulder into orbit around the moon.
Throughout its mission, the ARM robotic spacecraft will test a number of capabilities needed for future human missions, including advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP), a valuable capability that converts sunlight to electrical power through solar arrays and then uses the resulting power to propel charged atoms to move a spacecraft. This method of propulsion can move massive cargo very efficiently. While slower than conventional chemical rocket propulsion, SEP-powered spacecraft require significantly less propellant and fewer launches to support human exploration missions, which could reduce costs.
This RFI seeks spacecraft designs that may include taking advantage of Xenon capacity SEP, single or multiple component architectures and cost-sharing partnerships.
Future SEP-powered spacecraft could pre-position cargo or vehicles for future human missions into deep space, either awaiting crews at Mars or staged around the moon as a waypoint for expeditions to the Red Planet.
ARM’s SEP-powered robotic spacecraft will test new trajectory and navigation techniques in deep space, working with the moon’s gravity to place the asteroid in a stable lunar orbit called a distant retrograde orbit. This location is a suitable staging point for astronauts to rendezvous with a deep space habitat that will carry them to Mars.
Before the large asteroid boulder is moved to lunar orbit, NASA will use the opportunity to test planetary defense techniques to inform mitigation of potential asteroid impact threats in the future. The experience and knowledge acquired through this operation will help NASA develop options to move an asteroid off an Earth-impacting course, if and when that becomes necessary.
NASA’s Near Earth Objects Program continues to implement new capabilities and upgrades to existing projects for detecting and cataloging asteroids. The agency also has engaged non-traditional partners and the public in the hunt for undetected asteroids through the NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge activities, including prize competitions. In March, the agency announced the release of a software application based on an algorithm created through a NASA challenge that has the potential to help increase the number of asteroid detections in collected sky images.
For more information about NASA’s Asteroid Initiative, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/asteroidinitiative
For more information about NASA’s robotic satellite servicing capabilities office, visit:
8 responses to “NASA Issues RFI on Asteroid Redirect Mission”
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One could also interpret the mixing in of satellite servicing in the specification as a retreat from ARM. A way to find some useful way of performing that “technology demonstration mission”. No one cares about the asteroid which turned into a meteoroid which turned into a boulder anyway.
No one cares about the asteroid which turned into a meteoroid which turned into a boulder anyway.
Unless you propose dropping an asteroid onto a planet, that sentence makes no sense.
“Asteroids” i.e. meteoroids when they are as small as the ARM mission targets. Stuff that would burn up like a meteor in our night sky, are dropping down on Earth regularly. And then there’s that asteroid/boulder distinction. I don’t want to be picky, but maybe conventional asteroid sample return missions like Osiris-REX and Hayabusa2 are more efficient than the boulder return idea?
I stand corrected, I (once again) confused the terms “meteroid” and “meteorite”.
No one had any real reason to make a difference between the two. Until the ARM imagination occurred. Some time in the future some astronaut will certainly touch a meteoroid/asteroid. But I really doubt that it would be a useful near term stepping stone for human space flight.
Anything in cislunar space is currently worth at least $30K/kilogram. Boulders might not seem valuable because we have so many of them on the ground, but with the right infrastructure those boulders become raw material or shielding for future commercial operations.
Returning a boulder to cislunar space is a first step toward establishing more commercial infrastructure in space. Establishing commercial infrastructure is a first step toward a self-sustaining presence. A self-sustaining presence is a first step toward humanity becoming a spacefaring species. Returning a boulder to cislunar space is, therefore, a first step toward humanity becoming a spacefaring species. Its importance cannot be overemphasized.
Most folks automatically imagine “near-term stepping stones” for human spaceflight in terms of what will get us to another planet, but the idea that another planet such as Mars is a necessary “next step” is an unsupported assumption. O’Neill’s summer studies at Princeton did a good job of showing that humanity would do better to build habitats than to settle on another planet.
I still don’t see what use the stone would have. Would it matter at all if the SEP tug returned without the stone? Anyway, here’s some blogger who has an idea of how to use a stone in lunar orbit, the first actual use of it that I have heard of:
http://hopsblog-hop.blogspo…
I’m going to repost this.
Returning a boulder to cislunar space is a first step toward establishing more commercial infrastructure in space.
Establishing commercial infrastructure is a first step toward a self-sustaining presence.
A self-sustaining presence is a first step toward humanity becoming a spacefaring species.
Returning a boulder to cislunar space is, therefore, a first step toward humanity becoming a spacefaring species. Its importance cannot be overemphasized.