FINAL - International Asteroid Mission

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/9261863/Nasa-trains-astronauts-for-asteroid-mission.html

NASA is currently training ESA astronauts (one of which is Time Peake, the first British astronaut in the ESA) for a future mission to land on an asteroid nearly three million miles away (for perspective, the moon is approximately 239,000 miles from Earth). The mission's main goal is to learn as much as possible about the origins of the universe from asteroids, and to also have experience landing and living on asteroids in the event of any potential asteroids that could threaten Earth. Currently, the astronauts are training for the low to nonexistent gravity of an asteroid by living at the depths of the Atlantic Ocean for twelve days, practicing exercises and testing equipment in the closest conditions possible to that of an asteroid. While the mission is almost entirely for scientific purposes, due to an asteroids' ability to preserve data and thus be excellent to take samples from, the mission is also in preparation for any potential disasters with asteroids. NASA is currently tracking 400 "dangerous" asteroids that have a chance of colliding with Earth in the future, yet the odds for any of them to hit are extremely minuscule. While the earliest this mission could take place in is the early 2020s, the general consensus is that, having landed astronauts on asteroids will better prepare us for any dangerous situations in the future, while also being a worthwhile scientific endeavor.

Studying the space programs, mainly NASA and the ESA, and the missions and advancements that they have made, has really shown me how important they are. NASA is mainly just viewed as an organization that occasionally sends astronauts (not anymore) up in to space. What I have learned is that there is much more to space organizations than just sending people into space: they are vital for collecting scientific data and furthering our knowledge to often make technological advances that benefit not only space exploration, but everyone. The  satellites monitor the weather to predict natural disasters and examine changes in the climate. Beyond that, I was also under the assumption that, because of NASA's budget cuts, that the organization was going to slow down its progress until it eventually disappeared. Not only is NASA still working as much as they had been before, but they're still making advances and, even if through the help of other space agencies, NASA is planning and training for future missions. While I am still in favor of a government run space agency as opposed to a privately owned and run space agency, I feel like the private space industries can be beneficial. Many of their employees are retired NASA scientists or engineers, and as long as NASA continues to push for more advancements, while private industries maintain a lesser role in the process, I have no issue with it.