Of the nine or so metal-rich asteroids discovered so far, Psyche is the largest, located outside the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, along with millions of other space rocks. orbiting around.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to an asteroid covered in rare metals.
largely Asteroids tend to be rocky This is the first exploration of the world of metal. Scientists think it could be the battered remains of an early planet’s core, and could shed light on the inaccessible cores of Earth and other rocky planets.
SpaceX launched a spacecraft into the midnight sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Psyche, named after the asteroid it is chasing, should reach the giant potato-shaped object in 2029.
After decades of visiting distant worlds of rock, ice, and gas, NASA is keen to pursue metal-coated worlds. Of the nine or so metal-rich asteroids discovered so far, Psyche is the largest, located outside the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, along with millions of other space rocks. orbiting around. It was discovered in 1852 and named after the Greek goddess of enchanting souls.
“Going to the Earth’s metallic core has been a long-held dream of humanity. I mean, just ask Jules Verne,” said Lindy Elkins Tanton, lead scientist at Arizona State University.
“The pressure is too high. The temperature is too high. It’s not possible with this technology,” she added. “But there is one way we can observe metallic cores in our solar system, and that is by going to this asteroid.”
Astronomers know from radar and other observations that the asteroid is large, about 144 miles (232 kilometers) in diameter and 173 miles (280 kilometers) long at its widest point. They believe the dull, mostly gray surface is coated with fine metal particles from cosmic collisions, likely iron, nickel, other metals, and silicates.
Otherwise, it’s a point of light in the night sky, full of mystery until the spacecraft arrives, having traveled more than 2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers).
Scientists envision spiky metal craters, giant metal cliffs and eroded lava flows covered in greenish-yellow metal made of sulfur, Elkins-Tanton said. “I’m almost certain that I’m completely wrong.” It’s also possible that trace amounts of iron-loving elements such as gold, silver, platinum, and iridium are dissolved in the asteroid’s iron and nickel.
“It’s very likely to be more than we ever imagined, and that’s my biggest wish,” she said.
The asteroid, which is believed to be a planetary building block in the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, could help explain how life began on Earth and whether our planet is habitable, according to Elkins Tanton. This could help answer fundamental questions such as why this is the case.
On Earth, the planet’s iron core is responsible for the magnetic field that protects the atmosphere and makes life possible.
The $1.2 billion mission, led by Arizona State University on behalf of NASA, will use a circuitous route to reach the asteroid. A van-sized spacecraft equipped with solar panels large enough to fill a tennis court is scheduled to fly over Mars in 2026 to boost gravity. After three years, it will reach the asteroid and attempt to orbit around it at a maximum altitude of 440 miles. (700 kilometers), but at least she will be as close as 47 miles (75 kilometers) until 2031.
The spacecraft relies on solar electric propulsion using xenon gas-fed thrusters and their gentle blue glow pulses. Experimental communication systems that use lasers instead of radio waves are also being planned to expand the flow of data from deep space to Earth. NASA hopes the test will one day yield more than 10 times the amount of data needed to send video from the Moon or Mars.
The spacecraft was supposed to fly a year ago, but its flight was held up by delays in flight software testing due to mismanagement and other issues. The revised schedule added travel time. As a result, the probe will not arrive at the asteroid until 2029, instead of arriving at the asteroid in 2026 as originally planned.
It’s the same year that another NASA spacecraft – the one that just brought back asteroid samples to the Utah desert – will arrive at another space rock bouncing around Earth.
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Marcia Dunn, Associated Press
