Washington, Sep 03 : NASA has invited general public to submit their messages and images on social media, which they will launch on an asteroid in a time capsule spacecraft.

Called the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), the spacecraft, which would be launched in 2016, would rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu in 2019, collect a sample and return the cache in a capsule to Earth in 2023 for detailed study.

The robotic mission would spend more than two years at the 1,760-foot (500-meter)-wide asteroid and return a minimum of 2 ounces (60grams) of its surface material. Topics for submissions by the public should be about solar system exploration in 2014 and predictions for space exploration activities in 2023. The mission team would choose 50 tweets and 50 images to be placed in the capsule. Messages can be submitted from Sept. 2 till Sept. 30.

The OSIRIS-REx mission would be focused on finding answers to basic questions about the composition of the very early solar system and the source of organic materials and water that made life possible on Earth.

NASA's ARM would be a first-ever mission to identify, capture and redirect a near-Earth asteroid to a stable orbit around the moon, where astronauts would explore it in the 2020s, and return with samples. The mission would advance the new technologies and spaceflight experience needed for humans to explore Mars in the 2030s. (ANI)