Researchers from the National Space Science Center, which is under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said they could trap a small asteroid and bring it to Earth. What they are targeting is an asteroid near the Earth.
The asteroids, they explained, could be used for science or even for industrial purposes, as they contain valuable minerals.
Then how do they catch asteroids that dart at high speed in space?
According to Li, speaking in a future technology contest in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, the asteroid can be captured utilizing a small spacecraft carrying a giant pocket.
The aircraft will capture an asteroid approaching Earth, activating a hot shield that will dampen the speed of the asteroid so that the space object is not burned out when entering Earth's atsmofer.
Yet this plan is not without challenges. First, to think about, is how to find a suitable asteroid to capture. Most small asteroids are very difficult to detect unless they really are very close to Earth.
Secondly, how to keep a small asteroid from burning Earth's atmosphere? Li said he and his team will be designing a hot shield that could significantly reduce the asteroid speed from 12 km per second to just 150 meters per second.
Currently Li and his team are eyeing a small asteroid now 62 miles from Earth. Its diameter is only 6 meters and weighs several hundred tons only.
The team plans to launch the mission of capturing asteroids into space in 2029 and taking their catch to Earth in 2034.
