OFFICIAL and CONFIRMED: NASA to send astronauts to asteroid VESTA!

edit: obsolete post

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
though that article doesn't talk of a manned mission it isn't hard to believe they may send astronauts

The title of this thread is: "OFFICIAL and CONFIRMED: NASA to send astronauts to asteroid VESTA!"

Nowhere does the article link to this "OFFICIAL and CONFIRMED" manned mission to Vesta. Now either there is an official confirmation that there is a manned mission to Vesta or not. If not, this thread is a HOAX.

Now, can you provide an official announcement from a NASA source of a confirmed manned mission to Vesta as the thread title states or not? The "physorg" link is not an official NASA source.

Originally posted by StealthyKat
There appears to be some truth to this. From Nasa's website start1.jpl.nasa.gov...

Thank you for that link. Too bad the article mentioned in the OP didn't provide that link. Also, that link doesn't confirm the manned mission to Vesta as this thread claims either.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


Well I can understand what you were talking about now _BoneZ_ it seems that every other article on this subject talks about unmanned missions, such as this national geographic article: NASA Asteroid Mission Set for 2016. But that was released in May and I am willing to give pysorg benefit of the doubt until proven wrong.

Originally posted by _BoneZ_

Originally posted by StealthyKat
There appears to be some truth to this. From Nasa's website start1.jpl.nasa.gov...

Thank you for that link. Too bad the article mentioned in the OP didn't provide that link. Also, that link doesn't confirm the manned mission to Vesta as this thread claims either.

Ok, everything makes perfect sense once you read that article.

NASA is considering an ambitious mission to send astronauts to an asteroid in a near-Earth orbit. This study explored the possibility of reducing risk by preceding the human mission with robotic spacecraft which would evaluate the suitability of target asteroids for a human mission.

Obviously this is not a hoax imo.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


The link that StealthyKat provided should've been provided in the article on Physorg for credibility purposes. Physorg, or any other entity, is not an official NASA mouthpiece. Only NASA can confirm any upcoming missions.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
Obviously this is not a hoax imo.

You're correct. The article itself is not a hoax, although they should've linked to the page that StealthyKat posted, but this thread is a hoax. Nowhere in the article does it say anything about a manned mission to Vesta. The article only links to an unmanned mission to Vesta.

reply to post by _BoneZ_

Physorg, or any other entity, is not an official NASA mouthpiece. Only NASA can confirm any upcoming missions.

Well they are a quite respectable source for science and tech news and they obviously had interviews with people from NASA. I highly doubt they would casually make up quotations and lie about what NASA has told them.

You're correct. The article itself is not a hoax, although they should've linked to the page that StealthyKat posted, but this thread is a hoax.

How is the article not a hoax but this thread is a hoax? So what if the initial sources weren't quite perfect. That's what we ATS members are for. To get to the bottom of breaking news. We don't wait for others to decide for us when the news is worth sharing.

Nowhere in the article does it say anything about a manned mission to Vesta. The article only links to an unmanned mission to Vesta.

How is that so. I highly suggest you re-read the article. It clearly talks about sending astronauts to an asteroid. Thus far everything you have claimed has panned out to be false...so yeah, that's something to think about.

Would it be possible to set up camp on an asteroid and hitch a lift somewhere?

How fast do these things go? Faster than we can go?

Would be an interesting idea if the asteroid can go faster than mankind. Could get us places so much faster. I know it's not the ideal way to travel as we'd have to have a destination to go to and more than likely not be able to travel back the same way but for example an asteroid that's gonna pass a certain distance from Mars and would get us there in weeks rather than months would be excellent. Send a robotic probe on the asteroid with food/supplies/fuel and send man on a manned flight to arrive a few months later.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
Well they are a quite respectable source for science and tech news and they obviously had interviews with people from NASA. I highly doubt they would casually make up quotations and lie about what NASA has told them.

I personally don't care how credible a third-party organization is claimed to be. If any third-party organization is going to make any claims, and that includes posters here on ATS, you have to have a source to back up those claims or your claims are not credible, period.

Hell, "God" himself could come down here and claim that NASA is doing this or that. But without an official announcement from NASA, then the claim has no credibility and only amounts to hearsay.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
How is the article not a hoax but this thread is a hoax?

Are you even reading and comprehending my previous posts? I mean, really? This thread claims there is an OFFICIAL and CONFIRMED manned mission to asteroid Vesta. I even asked you to provide a link to this Official and Confirmed announcement. You never did.

The article linked in this thread does not say anything about a manned mission to Vesta. With no source to confirm that there is an Official and Confirmed manned mission to Vesta, then this thread is a HOAX. Very plain and simple, really.

Why is it so hard to comprehend that this thread claims an Official and Confirmed manned mission to Vesta, but provides no official link to confirm it?

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
That's what we ATS members are for. To get to the bottom of breaking news.

I did get to the bottom of this. The thread title claims Official and Confirmed manned mission to Vesta, the article linked does not say anything of the sort. This thread is a HOAX.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
I highly suggest you re-read the article. It clearly talks about sending astronauts to an asteroid.

I've read the article six times and ran it through my word processor so that I could use "search". Yes, the article talks about sending astronauts to "an asteroid". NO, the article does not talk about sending astronauts to asteroid Vesta as this thread claims, nor is there any links to any confirmations of an official NASA mission to asteroid Vesta.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
Thus far everything you have claimed has panned out to be false

That's a BS lie and now has pissed me off. I'm done in this thread. You're not even comprehending what I'm typing.

- Yes, the article talks about sending astronauts to an asteroid.

- No, the article does not talk about sending astronauts to asteroid Vesta as this thread claims, much less link to any "Official and Confirmed" manned mission to asteroid Vesta as this thread claims. This thread is a HOAX, period.

I'm done here.

reply to post by _BoneZ_

Are you even reading and comprehending my previous posts? I mean, really? This thread claims there is an OFFICIAL and CONFIRMED manned mission to asteroid Vesta. I even asked you to provide a link to this Official and Confirmed announcement. You never did.

The article linked in this thread does not say anything about a manned mission to Vesta. With no source to confirm that there is an Official and Confirmed manned mission to Vesta, then this thread is a HOAX. Very plain and simple, really.

You are actually correct, the article does not say there is a confirmed mission to Vesta specifically, but it does say there is a MANNED mission to an asteroid, and Vesta looks like a good choice. Furthermore, the other NASA article specifically claims they are considering launching a manned mission to an asteroid. Would you be satisfied if the OP removed the word "Vesta" from the title? You are grasping for straws imo.

The OP really jumped the gun on this one. The facts are pretty simple. The asteroid belt contains thousands of rocky and metallic bodies, some up to several hundred miles across. Some asteroids (but none of the really large ones like Vesta or Pallas) are in Earth-crossing orbits. Earth has a long history of impacts from large objects like the one that may have wiped out the dinosaurs to very small meteorites, and everything in between.

The crater at Canyon Diablo, Arizona, (nearly a mile across) was created 49,000 years ago but meteors are still falling on Earth today. In 1972, there was a near miss with a fairly large object that skipped back out of the atmosphere without striking the surface. Scientists are tracking and studying asteroids for a variety of reasons including developing a defense against a possible impactor that could hit Earth. Also, asteroids contain clues to the early history of the solar system.

Now that the space agency no longer has to maintain and operate a fleet of space shuttles, NASA is reinvigorating its manned space exploration program. Robotic probes to the moon, Mars, asteroids, and outer planets are providing valuable data for future manned missions. The Dawn mission is a good example.

After Dawn became the first spacecraft to orbit a body in the main asteroid belt, NASA Administrator and former astronaut Charles Bolden said:

“Dawn’s study of the asteroid Vesta marks a major scientific accomplishment and also points the way to the future destinations where people will travel in the coming years. President Obama has directed NASA to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, and Dawn is gathering crucial data that will inform that mission.”

Other possible future mission include a return to Earth's moon, exploration of the Martian moons, and a landing on Mars itself.

reply to post by _BoneZ_



here are some sources which aren't a "tabloid" and I'm not dishonest, nor a hoaxer, nor is the associated press, nor ABC news hoaxers, or tabloid.

I do appreciate when someone corrects me, on the article is a picture in which it shows an Asteroid, and says the asteroid is VESTA. I'm not lieing, I plan to follow articles on ATS and if I'm sharing something, the last thing I want is someone to thing I'm hoaxing.

This is from a science report for the associated press. Yes, "THE" AP news, reported four hours ago.

www.google.com...

here is a copy paste why I assumed it was VESTA:

"FILE - This file image released by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Monday, July 18, 2011 shows the asteroid Vesta, photographed by the Dawn spacecraft on July 17, 2011. The image was taken from a distance of about 9,500 miles (15,000 kilometers) away. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL, File)" image on the article.

here's another non-tabloid news site reporting the same:

esciencenews.com...

here's another non-tabloid site reporting the same:

(ABC NEWS: abcnews.go.com... also release 4 or 5 hours ago)

again, each site showing a file "released by jpl/nasa.

So sir, respectfully I ask you to use a search engine properly before you claim this a hoax.

here's are some more "non-tabloid" sources in case there is more confusion in your mind.

No offense taken, and hopefully none given, but you are flat out wrong. (wish you weren't)

this youtube video posted by CNN's youtube account says the same thing.

Please research a bit before calling someone a hoaxer. Rude, and irresponsible.

youtube video via CNN posted JULY 6th 2011:
www.youtube.com...

(title of cnn video: "NASA to board asteroid?"

Anyone else want to claim this a hoax? I can pull more and more non-tabloid sources.

What is interesting, is everyone BUT NASA seems to be reporting, which doesn't make sense, so either ABC, AP, CNN, and other science journal sites are hoaxing, or NASA is not saying anything on their site for a weird reason.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder



I sited more articles all saying the same thing, and no, none of them specifically say VESTA, an assumption on my part, of which I apologize; I was led to believe through the excitement of reading it, and seeing images of VESTA on every article, that "the" asteroid to be boarded was VESTA. It makes sense; nonetheless, they are gearing up for a manned mission to an asteroid they believe to be a threat. You don't board an asteroid to study it if it's a threat. You board it for the obvious reasons.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


thank you for that link sir, I read it, and in I can't find anything about the mission due to a danger posed by an asteroid, as is being reported as of 4/5 hours ago by the mainstream media.

I can't find a date of publication for NASA/JPL page :start1.jpl.nasa.gov...

but why is this story just breaking in mainstream media on the outlets i posted?

thanks for clarifying, btw, that no specific article said it was VESTA; I was led to believe it was, as all the articles has a picture of VESTA on/in them.

I'm not a hoaxer

MY FREAKING BAD! I made a mistake. Is there a way I can change the thread to read: OFFICIAL AND CONFIRMED: NASA to send astronauts to land on an asteroid yet unnamed because it poses a great threat to mankind?

Wow, no one took time it seemed, and want to bicker over a mistake in the thread title, and one that is easily explained, got excited, and saw images of VESTA on every page, so my apologies.

It's not significant to the angry folks who think I was hoaxing this, that NASA alleges (via AP/ABC/etc reporters) this asteroid (singular, one asteroid) poses a threat to humanity?

Pretty harsh thing in my opinion to draw conclusions that the thread and OP is a hoaxer.

So, what asteroid do you think they're in a rush to get to? Not Vesta, I assume.

Originally posted by N34Li3Z
thank you for that link sir,
I'm not a hoaxer

Apology accepted. Thanks for explaining that you made an error in judgement about the article. No, you're not a hoaxer as hoaxer's don't apologize and admit their mistakes.

No hard feelings.

reply to post by N34Li3Z


I know you aren't a hoaxer.....could have happened to anyone.

to the OP, Im a big fan of Physorg and am always impressed by the level of detail they offer and the scientific advances they often put forth. wonderful post, thanx

Here is a link to NASA's near earth objects ,or NEO .

The following table lists potential future Earth impact events that the JPL Sentry System has detected based on currently available observations. Click on the object designation to go to a page with full details on that object. Sentry is a highly automated collision monitoring system that continually scans the most current asteroid catalog for possibilities of future impact with Earth over the next 100 years. Whenever a potential impact is detected it will be analyzed and the results immediately published here, except in unusual cases where an IAU Technical Review is underway.

neo.jpl.nasa.gov...

Seems that we have nothing to worry about until about the year 2040.
But you never know what might be lurking out there.

This is an AP article, linked in entirety on other sites word for word. Try to look up anything on the actual people linked to NASA that are quoted to saying anything directly about a mission planned, not a hypothetical mission, but a real one. This is where confusion comes in. Beautifully crafted to look and seem authentic.

Kent Joosten is the only real NASA link quoted to say anything about a mission but I can't access any of these PDFs dating back to 2000.

See if you can. They sound like speculative studies, like this one from 2000; Neighborhood” Architecture. Analysis. “A Work in Progress”. June 27, 2000. B. Kent Joosten. JSC/Exploration Office. How about this one from 2007; Preliminary Assessment of Artificial Gravity Impacts to Deep-Space Vehicle Design B. Kent Joosten National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Have you heard of anything related to these subject in development, on-line, or in the news?

I suppose most have skimmed over these following quotes from the article, siting only anything of substance from Joosten.

The agency's best minds are wrestling with how to pull it off

It has the dreamers of NASA both excited and anxious.

Some old-timers are grousing about it, saying going back to the moon makes more sense. But many NASA brains are thrilled to have such an improbable assignment.

Still no names...

It would take half a year to reach an asteroid, based on current possible targets. The deep space propulsion system to fly such a distance isn't perfected yet. Football-field-sized solar panels would help, meaning the entire mothership complex would be fairly large. It would have to protect the space travelers from killer solar and cosmic ray bursts. And, they would need a crew capsule, maybe two, for traveling between the asteroid complex and Earth.

Beyond all those obstacles, NASA doesn't even know which asteroid would be the best place to visit.

All this has to be ready to launch by 2025 by presidential order.

Now, finally the named man Joosten.

"This is the big step," said Kent Joosten, chief architect of the human exploration team at Johnson Space Center. "This is out into the universe, away from Earth's gravity completely... This is really where you are doing the 'Star Trek' kind of thing."

Sounds like a hypothetical study.

"This is a risky mission. It's a challenging mission," said NASA chief technology officer Bobby Braun. "It's the kind of mission that engineers will eat up."

This is a matter of sending "humans farther than ever before," said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. It is all a stepping stone to the dream of flying astronauts to Mars in the mid 2030s

Sounds like form letters to quote real people, but no links.

"I think it is THE mission NASA should embrace," said University of Tennessee aerospace professor John Muratore. "To be successful at this mission, you've got to embrace all of the technologies that you need for Mars."

Now here's where the hypocrisy starts.

Critics, including former Apollo astronauts and flight directors, have blasted President Barack Obama for canceling George W. Bush's plan to return astronauts to the moon. They dismiss talk of asteroid visits.

*former astronaut*

NASA doesn't have a story right now," said Grunsfeld, deputy director at the Space Telescope Science Institute. "Exploration is nothing if not the articulation of a great story."

The reason NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and others give is that this mission could save civilization. Every 100 million years or so an asteroid 6 miles wide - the type that killed off the dinosaurs- smacks Earth, said NASA Near Earth Object program manager Donald Yeomans.

General information quotes, not mission specific, lets get specific...

If NASA can get astronauts to an asteroid, they can figure out a way of changing a potential killer's orbit. They'll experiment with the safe one they land on, Braun said.

One joke going around is that dinosaurs couldn't stop catastrophe because they didn't have a space program.

"One of the statements going to an asteroid will make is that humans are smarter than dinosaurs," Grunsfeld said.

Getting to one will be even tougher.

Huge powerful rockets are needed to launch spacecraft and parts out of Earth orbit. NASA promises to announce its design idea for these rockets by the end of the summer and Congress has ordered that they be built by 2016. It will take two or three or maybe even more launches of these unnamed rockets to get all the needed parts into space.

The crew capsule is the farthest along because NASA is using the Orion crew ship it was already designing for the now dead moon mission and repurposing it for deep space. NASA has already spent $5 billion on Orion.

This is the very Orion craft Obama put on the shelf, but there's more.

Once in space, the ship needs a propulsion system to get it to the asteroid.

Orion isn't big enough for four astronauts to live on for a year. They would need a larger space habitat, a place where they can exercise to keep from losing bone strength in zero gravity. They would need a place to store food, sleep and most importantly a storm shelter to protect them from potentially deadly and radiation-loaded solar flares.

One way is to use traditional chemical propulsion, but that would require carrying lots of hard-to-store fuel and creation of a new storage system, Joosten said.

Another way is to use ion propulsion, which is efficient and requires less fuel, but it is enormously slow to rev up and gain speed. It would also require an electrical ignition source, thus the giant solar power wings.

If NASA goes to ion propulsion, the best bet would be to start the bulk of the ship on a trip to and around the moon without astronauts. That would take a while, but if no one is on it, it doesn't matter, Joosten said. Then when that ship is far from Earth, astronauts aboard Orion would dock and join the rest of the trip. By this time, the ship would have picked up sufficient speed and keep on accelerating.

No no propulsion system on-line, no answers to how this cancelled craft would be funded, how it could store necessities, or how they propose to slow it down to be able to orbit an asteroid they say has negligible gravity, and even outline how slow of a velocity change ion propulsion is, which isn't even prototyped yet.

It sounds like half of the trip would be gaining speed, and the other half slowing it down, and that year long proposed trip should increase 150% at least. This is obviously speculative at best, cancelled in reality.