2007-10-03 02:19:27 · 10 answers · asked by Autumn 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
yes they could. anything can happen in space. anything
2007-10-03 02:27:14 · answer #1 · answered by Ninja Knight 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This has been attempted by the Japanese Hayabusa which is currently on its way back to Earth, expected to land in June 2010. Its attempt at landing was unsuccessful, but mission scientists hope that it diid collect some material while in the vicinity of asteroid 25143 Itokawa.
2007-10-03 02:33:58 · answer #2 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's possible, although the asteroid's low gravity would make it tough to keep the ship there. It might be easier to bring the ship to a halt near the asteroid, and send a robot (or astronaut) to the asteroid to get the samples.
2007-10-03 02:28:27 · answer #3 · answered by Ralfcoder 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is an unmanned mission in progress to land a package on Ceres, the largest of the asteroids.
2007-10-03 02:30:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe. But asteroids are so small that they have VERY weak gravity. If you tried to push a shovel into the ground on an asteroid, you would push yourself off into space before the shovel could sink into the ground. It would be kind of like digging into the face of a cliff while hanging next to it on a rope. Every time your tried to push a shovel into the cliff face you would push yourself away from the cliff instead.
2007-10-03 03:06:00 · answer #5 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes, they did it on the moon. which is nothing but a great big rock. an asteroid would be more complicated because of the size. so it would be more rather just getting close and spacewalking to it rather than actually "landing" on it.
The real big problem is getting to it. asteroids are very very far away and very small. space is HUGE so finding them and getting there would cost more than you could get from them.
2007-10-03 02:26:43 · answer #6 · answered by cwfraggle 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
yep, possible. regarding the concern on gravity, it all depends on the size of the asteroid we're talking about. since space is a vacuum, thrusters from shuttles can control the directions much lighter, regardless of the gravity. =)
2007-10-03 03:26:37 · answer #7 · answered by The Game 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An asteroid has a very low gravity so it would be tricky , but theoretically it is possible
2007-10-03 02:24:04 · answer #8 · answered by Ivan D 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes. They have landed on one before, and there are missions planned in the future to return samples.
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2007-10-03 02:26:47 · answer #9 · answered by Randy G 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I doubt it very seriously...
2007-10-03 02:29:16 · answer #10 · answered by Tel 1 · 0⤊ 6⤋