( CNN ) -- NASA is planning to catch an asteroid and place it in orbit around the moon . Seriously . What sounds like something from science fiction is actually a part of President Barack Obama 's proposed federal budget for the next fiscal year , according to a Florida senator . The budget is expected to be unveiled this week . Money needed to prevent big asteroid strike . `` In a nutshell , the plan in NASA 's hands calls for catching an asteroid with a robotic spacecraft and towing it back toward Earth , where it would then be placed in a stable orbit around the moon , '' read a statement from the office of Florida Sen. Bill Nelson . Opinion : Meteor shows why it 's crucial to keep an eye on the sky . Astronauts would then travel to the asteroid where `` there could be mining activities , research into ways of deflecting an asteroid from striking Earth and testing to develop technology for a trip to deep space and Mars , '' it said . NASA 's plan is similar to one suggested last year by experts at the California Institute of Technology , said Nelson , who is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space . That plan proposed bringing a 500-ton asteroid closer to Earth . Meteor lights up East Coast -- and social media . Obama supports NASA 's plan and is including about $ 100 million in his proposed budget to kick it off , the senator said . The president has previously said that he wants to send astronauts to an asteroid for the first time by 2025 . NASA 's plan would bump that date up by four years to 2021 , according to Nelson 's office . The proposal may have gotten an unexpected boost in February when an asteroid exploded over Russia , injuring more than 1,000 people , causing millions of dollars in damage and sparking fresh concerns about the severity of space threats . Catch up on space and science news on Light Years .
the California Institute of Technology aims to tow the asteroid back toward East Coast , says Russia Sen. Nelson . Astronauts would then travel there to study it . President Nelson supports the plan , Nelson says .