The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is exploring the possibility of implementing the Athena mission to explore a huge asteroid called Pallas.
The named object was discovered in 1802 by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers. The body belonging to the main asteroid belt has a size of about 512 km across (plus/minus 6 km). Thus, this asteroid is only slightly inferior to Vesta (525,4 km).
The decision to launch a probe to Pallas, according to network sources, will be made in mid-April. We are talking about creating a relatively compact research apparatus comparable in size to a refrigerator.
If the mission is approved, the probe could be launched in August 2022. The station will be able to reach the asteroid about a year after launch.
The equipment on board Athena will allow us to determine the dimensions of the Pallas, as well as to make a detailed survey of the surface of this space object. The cost of building the probe is estimated at US$50 million.
Source: 3dnews.ru