A professor at the University of Glasgow is backing research that will help scientists capture an asteroid in space.

Colin McInnes, Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Glasgow, believes capturing and delivering a large boulder to the moon is key in helping human spaceflight in the future.

He said: “A key element of human spaceflight, whether deep space or space tourism, is the provision of water.


Prof McIness insists extracting water from nearby Earth asteroids is a realistic possibility.




Video Loading

Not only would water be used by national space agencies and future space tourists, Prof McIness reckons it could be used as a fuel.

He said: “Water could create fuel for space tugs travelling between low Earth orbit and higher geostationary orbit where most communications satellites sit.”

The project seems to have lost political backing, but the current NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission could be crucial.

According to Prof McIness, asteroids were once viewed as as “the vermin of the sky”. However, California-based company Made In Space were recently awarded NASA funding to investigate how to turn asteroids into giant, autonomous spacecraft.

The project is part of Made In Space's long-term plan to enable space colonisation by helping make off-Earth manufacturing efficient and economically viable.

Prof McIness said: “If we can engineer truly practical schemes to extract and return water (and other materials) from near Earth asteroids at a cost less than lifting it out of the Earth’s deep gravity well, then someone will have a viable business.”