NASA currently has many space missions planned. As we know, the agency is preparing to return people to the moon, but in the meantime, it is working on other projects that are of great importance to science. One of them is Psyche, which is targeting a metallic object in the asteroid belt of the same name.
The launch of Psyche was scheduled for October 5. On that day, the NASA probe will be launched on a rocket provided by SpaceX. It will be Falcon Heavy, which will launch from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch window for the mission will last until October 25.
Falcon Heavy is a large SpaceX rocket that consists of the first three stages. So far, it has only been used in missions a few times. Psyche will be the next one and it will certainly be something to watch, because the launches of this rocket are very spectacular.
After launch, the probe will travel several years to reach its destination, which is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is a metallic rock. The ship is to reach there only in the summer of 2029. Three years earlier, in 2026, it will fly over the Red Planet and, thanks to its gravitational assistance, will gain speed for the further journey.
Psyche probe developed by NASA /NASA/Frank Michaux /press materials
“I can’t wait to see the first pictures. They will be spectacular when we finally see what this metal asteroid looks like up close.” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, at a Wednesday press conference
NASA’s mission target is an asteroid called 16 Psyche, which is metallic. The object measures about 280 km and can provide a lot of new information about the origins of the solar system. The probe is to study this object for at least 26 months and will finally approach it to a distance of only 64 km above the surface.
16 Psyche is a mysterious object that has never been thoroughly explored. Scientists expect surfaces to be largely made of metals, but there should be something else. Rocks, sulfur? This is unknown and the NASA mission is to reveal the details. The project cost the agency as much as 1.2 billion dollars. The ship will use three instruments during the research: a gamma and neutron spectrometer, a multispectral camera and a magnetometer.
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2023-09-07 17:51:45
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