No, you didn't read that wrong, the moon is finally getting its own moon, after all these years.
Right, this all sounds like the plot of some sort of sci-fi movie (Armageddon, anyone?) but NASA are worried about the fact that an asteroid could come hurtling at the Earth and really smash the place up. It'd be an absolute mess, and while that's bad news, the good news is that they're already working on a way to stop it from happening.
Their plan is even more science fiction-ish than even Bruce Willis & Co. could come up with, as they plan on giving the moon a moon of its own. According to Wired, their plan is to send "a spacecraft to an asteroid, pluck a boulder off its surface with a robotic claw, and bring it back in orbit around the moon".
Astronauts will then be sent to study the rock up close in orbit around the moon, all in aid of the Asteroid Redirect Mission. It's a real two birds one stone (or two rocks might be a more apt version of the analogy) situation, as they will not only get to study an asteroid up close, but it will also allow them to test the technology needed to travel to Mars.
However, it will be a long time before this mission takes place, with NASA looking at some time in 2025 to put the new moon in place. Before all that, they'll need to find a spare $1.25 billion down the back of the couch too. Maybe a Kickstarter could help?
Via Wired
