One step for man, one giant leap closer to Mars?
Space Systems/Loral (SSL), a subsidiary of Richmond-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) (TSX:MDA), has been selected by NASA to study technologies to be used in asteroid retrieval, MDA announced July 18.
SSL was one of the companies chosen by the agency to research systems for the Asteroid Redirect Mission, which is a component of the ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars.
“By investing in these studies, NASA will gain valuable insight into affordable ways to perform the Asteroid Redirect Mission while also advancing technologies needed to drive future exploration missions,” NASA’s James Reuther, deputy associate administrator for space technology, said in June.
The company will be involved in two studies. The first will research robotic technology that was developed by MDA to be used in asteroid capture. The second study will look at ways to adapt spacecraft for NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Vehicle.
This is not SSL’s first time working with the space agency. It was involved in the development of a propulsion system for a NASA spacecraft called the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer, which completed a mission in early 2014.
