The mission should last for six to ten years. After the launch of a rocket

In April, NASA announced its latest strategy for the restoration of the American space program for flights with human crews. The Agency plans to catch a small asteroid and automatic method it pulls up in lunar orbit. After that, one crew would benefit from future ship "Orion" and examine it up close and picked up samples. Fantastic, but how they do it?
Mission, called hatco warmer ARM ("Asteroid retrival Mission"), will consist of 17 995 kg heavy probe fitted with a special sack to capture an asteroid. The ship will be equipped with an electric propulsion system power 50 kW. While last year the group KISS - it is not a rock group "Kiss", but about Kekova Institute for Space Studies - presented preliminary design, now have their idea published more details. The vessel will use four ion thrusters Hall-type power by 10 kW and specific impulse of 3,000 seconds. The fuel will be used 12 tons of inert xenon, and the drive system will give a thrust of only one newton (100 grams). To help electric drive system (SEP), the probe will use four batteries of four engines of 200 newton to the orbital maneuvering use hypergolic fuel (MMH and dimethyl-tertoksid). This system is essential, because it will be in charge of ship management and synchronization with the rotation of asteroids. Each solar panel will have a diameter of 10 meters and an area of 70 m2. Insisting on the use of electric drive is not accidental. Thanks to the SEP, the probe will be at launch weighs only 18 tons. When not used the electric drive, the probe would have a weight of between 200 and 300 tons (!) (Definitely, electric ion propulsion will be the key to explore the solar system, but that's a topic for another article.)
The graph shows an example of a large reduction in initial weight (Imle = Initial hatco warmer Mass and Low-Earth Orbit) ship ARM with el. drive compared to those with chemical drive. Comparing SEP using xenon as a fuel, it is obvious that it would take over 20 times more Imle for a boat that would use less efficient motor fuel (NTO / MMH), and 12 times more if you use the more efficient cryogenic fuel (LOX / LH2) . The same operating system now used with great success probe "Dawn", which is currently investigating Vesta and Ceres.
The mission should last for six to ten years. After the launch of a rocket "Atlas V 551" at the beginning of the next decade, will ship to fly next to the moon in order to increase speed and after a few years of flight with an electric ion propulsion due to the proximity of the selected object. Small asteroid (or wall with a larger asteroids NEA) should not be larger in diameter of ~ 7 meters and weighing hatco warmer 1,000 tons. Over a period of 90 days, the probe will study the NEA asteroid, analyze its rotation period, and finally access the capture using two large bags equipped with a flexible metal olačanjima. Previously, it will be necessary to synchronize the rotation of the asteroid, and when it catches, it is completely neutralized. Then the ship with their catch to go back, and by 2030 will be located in Lagrange point L2 Earth-Moon system on the far side of the moon. Then - the exact date has not yet been determined - ship "Orion" with astronauts hatco warmer will be separated from their future launch vehicle SLS and head for the asteroid, land and access to the collection of samples for further pumped to Earth.
The biggest problem of the whole plan is that it has not detected any asteroid that would realistically fit the requirements and needs. This is obviously a major problem. Among the possible candidates is Atenov asteroid 2000 SG 344th Its orbit is easily accessible from the Earth (requires a small amount of Delta-V) and it would be easy to catch, despite having a weight hatco warmer of more than 7 tons. Of course, if by chance in 2000 SG 344 was dark carbonaceous C-type asteroid, could have a diameter of some 90 meters and weight that exceeds 800 000 tonnes (of which the 160 000 tonnes was water), but it might be possible pick up only a part of it. As far as the orbit, following a favorable candidate in 2006 RH 120, which has "only" 1,200 tons, but needless to say that we today about him we know nothing ... as, after all, not the other candidates. Maybe they are too big or not properly constituted - the most ideal for us to carbon type - just some of the ambiguities. Currently, the lack of proper candidates represents the bottleneck of the whole project. If the mission ARM wants to take hold, it will have first to find a mission objective. Another problem is the dates. NASA would like to have an asteroid near the moon by 2025, but - as I do not find a better target - most models includes return date to 2030. Will the program hatco warmer "SLS-Orion" survive without realizing the mission of ARM? The chances are very small.
No one escapes the impression that the ARM desperate attempt to give NASA scientific justification hatco warmer program with crew "SLS-Orion", but this is the first original initiative to go beyond Earth orbit after many years. Until as recently, proposals to use NASA SLS revolved around the idea that the mission "Apollo 8