2023-10-13 16:44:24
NASA launched a mission Friday to the distant asteroid Psyche, a previously unstudied metal world that scientists believe might be the core of an ancient celestial body.
The takeoff of SpaceX’s powerful Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the NASA probe, took place as planned at 10:19 a.m. local from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.
Humanity has already visited worlds made of rocks, ice or gas. But “this will be the first time that we will visit a world that has a metallic surface,” Lindy Elkins-Tanton, scientific leader of the mission, said at a press conference.
Thanks to the light reflected from its surface, scientists know that Psyche is very dense, and that it is made of metal, as well as some other material – perhaps rock. But “we don’t know what Psyche looks like,” explained the researcher.
Scientists believe that Psyche, which is more than 200 km long, might be the core of an ancient celestial body, whose surface was torn away by asteroid impacts.
REUTERS.
Earth, Mars, Venus or Mercury have a metallic core. But “we’re never going to see these cores, it’s way too hot, way too deep,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton. The mission to Psyche is therefore “our only way to see a core”.
Psyche was formed some 4.5 billion years ago, at the birth of our solar system. It may have experienced volcanic eruptions, of which traces might remain in the form of ancient lava flows. Then, as Psyche cooled, its contraction may have caused huge cracks to form.
REUTERS.
Scientists are also eager to see what the craters look like on a metallic celestial body: the material propelled by the impact of asteroids might have remained frozen in the air and formed sort of points.
The probe will remain in orbit around Psyche for a little over two years to study it, alternating between several altitudes.
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