Already tomorrow, Thursday, October 12, the long-awaited and relatively long-delayed launch of the Falcon Heavy awaits us, which is currently standing on the LC-39A launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Under its aerodynamic cover, it hides the Psyche probe, which aims to explore the planet of the same name. The latter is interesting primarily because it is mostly made of metal, specifically nickel and iron. Its dimensions are 279 × 232 × 189 kilometers, and scientists assume that it could be the exposed core of a protoplanet. According to the current plan, the probe should arrive at the planet in 2029 and use its four main instruments to investigate the potential magnetic field, take images of the surface and perform analysis of neutrons and gamma rays. The Psyche probe was supposed to launch in July last year, but software problems led to a delay in the mission. Also this time, both booster stages of the Falcon Heavy, which will fly for the fourth time, will attempt to land on the LZ-1 and LZ-2 land landing areas. The central stage will be discarded again.
Final overview:
Start location: Ramp LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Start time: October 12 16:16:49 CET
Rocket: Falcon Heavy (B1064, B1065 and B1079 stages)
Cargo: Sonda Psyche
Cargo weight: the weight of the probe is 2,747 kilograms
Orbit: Heliocentric orbit
Auxiliary degrees: Both will attempt landings at LZ-1 and LZ-2 land landing pads.
Central stage: It will be thrown away
We will start our broadcast about 30 minutes before the start, i.e. around 15:45 CEST. If you’re interested in joining the chat, click on the video title in the upper left corner to take you to the YouTube page for that broadcast.
Sources of information:
https://www.elonx.cz/
https://science.nasa.gov/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://everydayastronaut.com/
https://nextspaceflight.com/
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2023-10-11 16:00:55
#LIVE #CZECH #Psyche #probe #mission #begins
