HOUSTON NASAs plans to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 moved 10 days closer to being a reality this week, even though the target of that mission has yet to be found in space.

The agencys Research and Technology Studies (RATS) 10-day simulated asteroid mission, which ended Wednesday, involved scientists and flight controllers at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston evaluating new operations and exploration techniques for how astronauts might work above and on the surface of one of the small, rocky, solar system bodies.

The test used a variety of simulation technologies, including virtual reality and a custom rig that helped re-create the microgravity environment found at an asteroid.

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Potential manned mission President Barack Obama set the goal for a 2025 asteroid mission during remarks he delivered two years ago at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Earlier this week, he restated that aim during a question-and-answer session on the website Reddit.com.

As we continue work with the International Space Station, we are focused on a potential mission to (an) asteroid as a prelude to a manned Mars flight," Obama said. [Photos: President Obama and NASA]

The presidents use of potential to describe the asteroid mission may have been in recognition of the scientific and engineering challenges that NASA has already encountered in early planning for such an endeavor.

Going to an asteroid was a bigger step than I think we thought, because it is a very challenging mission to do, astronaut Michael Gernhardt told Space.com.

In addition to the uncertainty created by changing budgets and still-to-be-decided launch vehicle designs, the space agency has yet to find any candidate asteroids that pass close enough to allow for a roughly 90-day mission.

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NASA wraps up mock asteroid mission