Asteroid By 2025

In his speech at KSC Thursday, President Obama tried to address criticism that his plans for NASA's manned spaceflight future lacked direction by proposing a manned mission to an asteroid by 2025. Such a mission would be a step forward in spaceflight, science, and planetary defense.

There are thousands of near-Earth asteroids and comets, perhaps a thousand of which pose some threat to Earth. Sending probes to some of them, which some nations are already pursuing, and sending humans to explore at least one, would give us a better grasp of their structure and composition, which would allow us to devise realistic options for deflecting any on a collision course with Earth. Asteroids and comets are also chock full of natural resources. Nailing down exactly what's there on specific bodies is the first step towards using those resources.

During the speech, the President also rejected returning to the Moon, saying we've already been there. That could be argued. The Moon as we understand it today is very different from the Moon that hosted the six Apollo landings. We know now there is a significant amount of water ice on the Moon, as well as lunar uranium. The Moon we know today is much more inviting than Apollo's was. If Europeans, for example, had made six landings in the Caribbean and along the east coast of the Americas and decided not to return because they'd already been there, they would have missed lots of amazing stuff and never realized the incredible potential of the New World.

Not going back to the Moon, therefore, is questionable. By concentrating on deep space, the United States may cede Luna to other nations-- and to private industry. Interorbital Systems is planning a significant lunar base yet this decade; Bigelow Aerospace has similar plans. Several nations have expressed interest in participating in an international lunar base project. Such a project could easily bring NASA to what could be called the New Moon.