NASA chasing down asteroid to bring back samplesCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- NASA is going after an asteroid this week like never before. The mission will take seven years, from Thursday night's planned liftoff from Cape Canaveral to the return of the asteroid samples in 2023, and cover an incredible 6.5 billion kilometers through space. NASA has already brought back comet dust and specks of solar wind. And Japan already did it at an asteroid a decade ago, and is en route to a second space rock encounter. It will be the most well characterized asteroid in our solar system by the time we're through with it."

Source: The China Post September 07, 2016 16:52 UTC