Why is an asteroid better than Mars? Wouldn’t Mars be easier?
Actually some of the asteroids out there would be almost easier to arrive at than going to the moon. Of course getting back might not be as easy.
Going to Mars would require a lot more than getting to an asteroid. Plus the expense of launching off of Mars for the return.
The point is there is NO POINT is sending a human to a big rock in space. You cannot land on it, or walk on it. Maybe you can haul it back and crash it into Mecca, I might support it then.
Mars is closer than the asteroid belt for one. We know more about Mars, its resources, its seasons, its orbit. A stepping stone to building a colony on Mars.
We know that lack of gravity has adverse effects on the human body.
Land astronauts on a asteroid sounds like another 0bama - Dr James Henson pie in the sky failure in the making without a long term plan.