NASA wants to visit the “Earth’s primary asteroid” – the start is postponed
The “Psyche” mission aims to provide information about the Earth’s composition. There may never be any images of the asteroid’s core, but there will be images of the asteroid soon.
They have already taken their positions: photographers in front of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket with NASA’s Psyche rover on board at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (October 11, 2023)
Photo: Keystone
The launch of the Psyche space probe towards an asteroid of the same name was postponed by one day to Friday due to bad weather conditions. This was announced by the US space agency NASA on Thursday evening.
“Psyche” was scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Spaceport in the US state of Florida on Thursday afternoon (4:19 pm) aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket belonging to Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX.
This is the probe: Technicians test folding sun sails.
Image: Kim Shifflett/NASA
The probe, which has the size of a tennis court and has solar sails, was actually scheduled to launch in 2022, but had to be postponed due to computer problems. Psyche has to travel about 3.5 billion kilometers to reach the asteroid, which is why it won’t be able to get there until 2029 at the earliest.
The asteroid Psyche orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. According to preliminary results, it contains a lot of minerals. The probe aims to explore its composition and thus give researchers a better idea about the composition of asteroids, planets, and our solar system.
This is where you should go: Psyche will examine the asteroid of the same name.
Illustration: Peter Rubin/JPL/NASA
Psyche is 226 kilometers in diameter and orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. For comparison: Earth’s diameter is about 12,800 km, and the inner core’s diameter is likely 2,442 km.
Illustration: Peter Rubin/JPL/NASA
Scientists believe that, unlike most other asteroids, Psyche consists mainly of iron and nickel – similar to Earth’s core. Asteroid research can provide valuable insights into how rocky planets like Earth formed.
Illustration: Peter Rubin/JPL/NASA
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