NASA is Planning to Capture an Asteroid and Put it in Orbit Around the Moon

 

NASA is planning a mission to redirect an asteroid in orbit around the moon. The space 

agency has identified a number of potential asteroid candidates. Once chosen, NASA will 

launch a robotic mission to visit the asteroid. When this robotic spacecraft arrives at 

the intended asteroid, it will pick up a multi-ton boulder and redirect it to the moon. 

A team of astronauts will then visit the boulder in orbit and collect samples to bring 

them back to earth.
 

The asteroid redirection mission [ARM] will begin in the early 2020s. It is part of NASA's plan to test and advance the technologies needed for the mission to Mars in the 2030s.