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This illustration, updated in April 2022, depicts NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Scheduled to launch in August 2022, the Psyche mission will explore the metal-rich asteroid of the same name, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft will arrive in early 2026 and spend nearly two years orbiting the asteroid, also shown in this diagram, to study its composition. Scientists believe that Psyche may be the core of a planetesimal, one of the constituent elements of the solar system’s terrestrial (rocky) planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. thinking about. If so, it could provide a unique opportunity to study how planets like ours formed. But scientists are bracing for surprises, and Psyche may turn out to be a different type of proto-Solar System object that has never been studied before. Arizona State University in Tempe is leading the Psyche mission. JPL will be responsible for overall mission management, systems engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies of Palo Alto, Calif., supplied the spacecraft’s high-power solar-powered propulsion chassis. Development of the multispectral imager is being led by ASU in collaboration with Marine Space Science Systems in San Diego. Credit: NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology/ASU
The first-ever mission to study a metal-rich asteroid, Psyche aims to help scientists learn more about the formation of rocky bodies in the solar system.
Launch readiness date is set for Thursday, October 12, and NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will fly from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to a metal-rich asteroid in the far reaches of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. , is scheduled to travel 2.2 billion miles. The orbiter, which tracks blue light from its thrusters and is powered by a pair of giant solar arrays, will use its cargo’s scientific instruments to learn more about the asteroid Psyche.
Here are six things to know about missions.
1. Learning more about the asteroid Psyche may help us learn more about the origins of our solar system.
Based on data obtained by Earth-based radar and optical telescopes, scientists believe that asteroid Psyche is part of the metal-rich interior of a planetesimal, a component of a rocky planet that never formed. We hypothesize that this may be the case. Psyche may have collided with another large body early in its formation and lost its rocky outer shell. Because humans are unable to dig their way into Earth’s metallic core, visiting Psyche could provide a unique window into the history of violent collisions and material accumulation that gave rise to planets like ours. There is a gender.
2. This asteroid may also suggest a different story about how objects in our solar system formed.
Rocks on Mars, Venus, and Earth are rich in iron oxides, but Psyche’s surface appears to be low in these compounds. This suggests that Psyche’s history differs from the standard story of planet formation.
If asteroids prove to be the remaining core material of a planet’s building blocks, scientists will learn how their history is similar to and different from that of rocky planets. It will be. And if scientists discover that Psyche is not an exposed core, it may turn out to be a type of proto-Solar System object never seen before.
3. Three scientific instruments and gravitational science investigations help sort out these solar system origin stories and more.
spaceship magnetometer They will search for evidence of an ancient magnetic field on the asteroid Psyche. The residual magnetic field would provide strong evidence that the asteroid formed from the core of a planetary body.
Orbiter’s Gamma ray and neutron spectrometer This will help scientists identify the chemical elements that make up asteroids and better understand how asteroids formed.
spaceship multispectral imager Provides information about Psyche’s mineral composition and its topography.
The mission’s science team will use telecommunications systems to gravity science. By analyzing the radio waves transmitted by the spacecraft, scientists can measure how the asteroid Psyche affects the spacecraft’s orbit. That information helps determine the asteroid’s rotation, mass, and gravitational field, providing further insight into the composition and structure of the asteroid’s interior.
4. This spacecraft will be the first to use a highly efficient propulsion system beyond the moon.
Psyche with Hall Effect Thrusters Promotion of solar power generation The system uses energy from large solar arrays to generate electric and magnetic fields. These then accelerate and eject charged atoms or ions of a propellant called xenon (a neutral gas used in car headlights and plasma televisions) at very high speeds, creating thrust. The ionized gas emits a sci-fi blue glow as it trails behind Psyche in space. Each of Psyche’s four thrusters works one at a time, exerting the same amount of power as it feels to hold three quarters of her in the palm of your hand. In frictionless space, spacecraft accelerate slowly and continuously.
This propulsion system is built on technology similar to that used by NASA. dawn missionbut Psyche will be the agency’s first mission to use Hall-effect thrusters in deep space.
5. Psyche is a collaboration.
The mission leverages resources and know-how from NASA, universities, and industry. Principal investigator Lindy Elkins Tanton is based at Arizona State University. By enabling collaboration with students across the country, this partnership provides opportunities to train future instrument and mission leaders in science and engineering and inspire student projects involving the arts, entrepreneurship, and innovation. . More than a dozen other universities and research institutes are also participating. mission team.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages missions for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, JPL is also responsible for systems engineering, integration and test, and mission operations.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center managed launch operations and procured the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The team at Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, delivered the solar propulsion chassis (the body of the spacecraft) and most of its engineering hardware systems.
6. Psyche’s Mission wants you to join us on the journey.
Space exploration is fun for everyone. The mission’sparticipate“The webpage features activities and opportunities such as an annual internship for college students who interpret the mission through artwork and other creative works, classroom lessons, craft projects, and videos.” Information on how to get involved can be found at: nasa.gov/specials/virtualguest/.
mission website nasa.gov/spirit and psyche.asu.edu We will be posting official news about the spaceship journey. NASA and ASU also regularly post social media updates on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System is a free web-based 3D visualization tool that tracks spacecraft positions in real time.visit go.nasa.gov/45k0OVY Find out where Psyche is in the solar system.
About two months after launch, the team will perform an initial checkout of the spacecraft and scientific instruments, and the mission is expected to receive its first images. Once the team has verified that the imager is working as expected, web page We feature unprocessed, or raw, images coming directly from the spacecraft.
