Tuesday, 17 October 2023 | 19:43 WIB
Ani Nur Iqrimah / TCE
Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Recently the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully launched the Psyche space probe. The first mission aims to study an asteroid that is rich in metals, and has a value of up to IDR 15 billion.
The spacecraft observing the asteroid Psyche was launched on (10/13/2023), at 10.19 EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) or around 21.19 WIB from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
The Psyche plane took off from launch pad 39A aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. Reporting from NASATuesday (17/10/2023), Psyche is an asteroid that is rich in metal content.
The asteroid psyche is located in the main belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Newer data suggests the asteroid may be a mixture of metals and silicates, materials found in glass and sand.
Psyche was discovered by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on March 17, 1852. He named the asteroid after a Greek goddess of the soul who was born mortal and married to Eros (Roman Cupid), the god of love. The following are the latest facts about Psyche’s mission.
Latest Facts about the Psyche Mission
Asteroid Psyche Contains the Origins of the Solar System
From data obtained by radar and optical telescopes on Earth, scientists hypothesize that the asteroid Psyche may have come from within planetesimal which is open (one of the theories that explains the process of creating the solar system) which has a lot of metal.
Planetesimal this is the component that forms rocky planets such as Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth. It is possible that Psyche collided with another large object early in its formation and lost its outer rock shell.
By visiting Psyche, scientists can find out the history of violent collisions and the accumulation of material that became the core of planet Earth.
Failed Planet Psyche
This asteroid has a core similar to Earth, in other words Psyche has several layers and masses, so it can form a planet. However, Psyche is thought to have failed to form a new planet, because it collided with a larger celestial body when the solar system was 4.5 billion years old.
It is possible that the layers and mass that protected Psyche’s core were destroyed and peeled off, leaving behind a core rich in metal content.
According to some scientists, Psyche also appears to deviate from the names of the planets of the solar system from which it emerged planetesimalbecause Psyche does not contain iron oxide (a chemical compound of atoms and oxygen).
It is known that rocks on the planets of the solar system generally contain these compounds. If it turns out that the Psyche asteroid is not an open planetesimal core, then the asteroid may be a primordial object or ancient object in the solar system that is rarer and has never been discovered to date.
Psyche Spacecraft Engine
The Psyche spacecraft engine uses a very efficient propulsion system. It uses energy from large solar panels to create electric and magnetic fields. This field is then used to accelerate the propellant’s xenon-charged atoms to create thrust.
The craft also has four thrusters that work one at a time to provide the equivalent thrust of one AA battery on Earth. In microgravity and unimpeded space, the four thrusters are enough to propel the spacecraft.
With the help of effects hall as a propulsion, the Psyche probe is expected to arrive at the Psyche asteroid in August 2029. This technology is actually similar to that used in NASA’s Dawn mission, but this is NASA’s first mission to use an effect thruster hall in outer space. Previously, pusher hall only used in European missions to the Moon.
Traveling Millions of Kilometers
The Psyche probe will run for six years and will cover a distance of 3.6 billion kilometers. This probe will travel across the inner solar system, including passing the planet Mars in May 2026, to get a gravitational push that will take the Psyche probe to the orbit of the main asteroid belt, where the asteroid Psyche is located.
Before landing, this spacecraft will orbit for 26 months to map and study the properties of the asteroid.
During the first orbital period, which lasts 56 days, this probe will also use its magnetometer to search for ancient magnetic fields in the asteroid Psyche, and will prove that the asteroid was once a planetary body in the solar system.
2023-10-17 12:43:05
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