ESA Picks an Asteroid to Move
26th Sep 2005, 20:00 GMT
Computer animation of Don Quijote and its asteroid target. Image credit: ESA. Click to enlarge. Sep 26, 2005 - Instead of waiting for asteroids to slam into the Earth, the European Space Agency is working on a mission that will reach out and try to shift a space rock's orbit. The mission is called Don Quijote, and it will consist of two spacecraft: an orbiter and an impactor; similar to NASA's Deep Impact. The Sancho orbiter will rendezvous with a target asteroid and carefully calculate its orbit before and after the Hidalgo impactor slams into it. The ESA has chosen two candidate asteroids as potential targets, and will make a final decision in 2007. Full Story Related Stories Discuss this Story