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WASHINGTON — A room on the International Space Station could ultimately be recycled by carrying astronauts on their next great adventure to visit an asteroid, NASA scientists say.

The space station's Tranquility module, known as Node 3, could be repurposed as the main living space for human explorers headed out to a nearby asteroid, NASA officials said. The node could also connect with two space exploration vehicles and have add-on inflatable modules.

"There's no new ideas under the sun," said Brian Wilcox, a roboticist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He added that the NASA "Blue Sky" group had focused on repurposing technologies for new missions during a brainstorming session this year.

Wilcox discussed the proposal for the space station node during NASA's two-day workshop on near-Earth objects under way here. The space station's is slated to continue operating through at least 2020, which roughly coincides with the earliest possible launch date for human exploration of an asteroid in 2025. President Barack Obama announced the 2025 goal for a mission to send astronauts to an asteroid in April.

The Node 3 module is one of the newest rooms on the International Space Station. It is nearly 24 feet (7.3 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 meters) wide, making it about the size of a small bus.

Node 3 was delivered by a NASA space shuttle in February and currently is home to the Cupola observation deck, a seven-window dome that gives astronauts a panoramic view of space to operate the outpost's robotic arm. The module also home to much of the space station's life support equipment and some astronaut bedrooms, closet-like berths about the size of a phone booth.

But for the asteroid mission concept, Node 3 could be detached and outfitted with two space exploration vehicles, which each have a pressurized cabin that could typically carry two astronauts (or four in an emergency).

Inflatable structures similar to those proposed by space hotel mogul Robert Bigelow could also launch within existing rockets and expand the usable living or working quarters.

The interior of the node could also see major makeovers.

A spinning centrifuge device installed within the node might also create artificial gravity to help astronauts stave off muscle and bone loss, Wilcox said. The space station currently does not have such a device.