14 DAY TRIAL // NASA is serious about its plans to capture an asteroid, tow it back to Earth, and then send astronauts study it. It's one of the most ambitious missions to come out of the space agency for years, decades even, but it's been mostly speculative until now.
However, the agency is now providing more details on the plan and the technology to be used to put it in practice.
NASA has published new images and videos explaining how such a mission would work. They show the Orion spacecraft, NASA's upcoming human-carrying craft, heading towards the target, as well as astronauts collecting samples.
The trip is estimated to take nine days. The small asteroid that will be the target of the mission will be captured in a special container and towed back for further analysis.
