NASA to put space boulder around moon as pit stop to Mars

The US space agency plans to put a huge space rock in orbit around Earth’s moon in preparation for future manned missions to the red planet.

Calling the ambitious project "Asteroid Redirect Mission", NASA is aiming for a December 2020 lift-off for an unmanned craft to capture and set the boulder in position, to be followed five years later by a manned expedition. The plan, a modification of a proposal by US President Barack Obama in 2010, is estimated it to cost about US$1.25bil (RM4.6bil), not including launch costs.