2023-10-13 17:39:05
Friday October 13, at 10:19 a.m. local time (2:19 p.m. GMT), the Psyche probe took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Head to the asteroid Psyche 16, a distant world made of metal 200 km in diameter, whose resources are said to be worth billions and billions of dollars.
Scientists believe that the asteroid Psyche 16 might be the core of an ancient celestial body, the surface of which was torn away by asteroid impacts. It is particularly coveted for the immense quantity of gold and precious metals that have been observed there.
“This will be the first time that we will visit a world that has a metallic surface,” explained Lindy Elkins-Tanton, scientific manager of the mission, during a press conference relayed by AFP.
And this surface area would have a price. Indeed, Bloomberg assessed in July 2019 the resources present on the asteroid at a sum which would correspond to 700 quintillion dollars. In other words, an income equivalent to 700 billion billion billion. Divided among all the inhabitants of the Earth, this would amount to giving each inhabitant a fortune of 93 billion dollars.
An estimated arrival in summer 2029
If his departure was to take place on Thursday October 12, it was missed due to bad weather conditions. On Friday October 13, the chances of favorable weather for takeoff were 85%. At 10:19 a.m. local time (2:19 p.m. GMT), the Psyche probe took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, heading for the asteroid Psyche 16.
Scientists are very curious to discover this new world, located in the outer part of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They will still have to be patient. The NASA probe has made its grand departure for a journey of some 3.5 billion kilometers to reach the asteroid. A journey that would end in… summer 2029.
An installation worthy of science fiction films
Science fiction fans will be the only ones not to be disconcerted by the announcement of the technologies used to put the Psyche probe into orbit.
For the first time ever, the probe will use Hall effect thrusters to move. These motors use electricity provided by the probe’s solar panels to obtain ions from xenon gas, a noble gas. These ions will then be accelerated by passing through an electric field, to finally be expelled at very high speed.
“Five times faster than fuel coming out of a conventional rocket,” explained NASA engineer David Oh. “The kind of thing you heard regarding in Star Wars and Star Trek, but now we’re making the future a reality,” the engineer said.
On site, the NASA probe will remain in orbit around Psyche 16 for a little over two years. The objective is to study it by alternating several altitudes, in order to multiply the points of view. Multispectral imagers will photograph the asteroid, spectrometers will be used to determine its composition as well as magnetometers to measure its magnetic field.
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