NASA CHOOSES Option B for asteroid redirection mission.

Florida Today (3/27, Dean) reported on the decision by NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot to send a spacecraft to an asteroid and retrieve a boulder from it and put it into orbit around the moon. Lightfoot explained the attraction of the chosen asteriod, saying, “I’m going to have multiple targets when I get there, is what it boils down to.” Current plans are to launch the spacecraft in 2020.

KOFY-TV San Francisco (3/28, 9:16 p.m. PDT) reported comically, “If your resume lists skills such as wielding a lasso and piloting a spaceship, NASA has an opening for you.” It explained that the plan would allow NASA “to test the moon’s orbit as a place to park future spacecraft for interplanetary missions.”

About time we got a few cowboys in space.