Like other asteroid-mining companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, NASA plans to expand its asteroid research by capturing and transporting the rocks to an area of space closer to Earth.
In a new video animation released by the space agency, relocating the asteroid to an area near the moon means it will take less time - about nine days - to reach the location.
The video suggests NASA's mission to the asteroid would be carried out by a two-person crew who fly from earth and connect – or dock – with a capture vehicle which holds the asteroid in place.
From there the crew would collect rock samples and study the asteroid on various space walks,lasting up to six days.
In a statement on their website, NASA said this research is part of the organisation's “ongoing efforts to identify and characterise near-Earth objects for scientific investigation, and to find potentially hazardous asteroids and targets appropriate for capture.”
Much of the technology for this asteroid capture and research mission is still in the development stage, with NASA calling out for $100 million ($A 111.5 million) of US government funds to kickstart the project.
