British scientists are planning to send a swarm of miniature spacecraft beyond Mars to study the origin of asteroids that might pose a threat to the Earth. Thirty or more microsatellites would be released by a mother spacecraft on arrival at the asteroid belt, where billions of space rocks orbit the Sun. Like bees from a hive, the satellites, weighing as little as 20 kilograms, would fly past different asteroids. They would collect images and other data, sending it all back to Earth via the main spacecraft. The European Space Agency (Esa) has given the go-ahead for a feasibility study of the project, which is being led by the British space company Astrium. Project scientist Paolo D'Arrigo described the concept as a "step change" in interplanetary exploration. "The idea is for a swarm of spacecraft to visit 100 asteroids," he told BBC News Online. "Although it sounds far-fetched, it's not very far from the current level of technology that we have." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2930217.stm
Interesting. Good to see a lot of work being done in space from around the globe. I cant wait to see this and the chinese moon landing.