2023-10-13 06:26:00
The NASA is preparing to launch this Friday a mission to distant asteroid Psychea world made of metal not previously studiedwhich scientists believe might be the core of an ancient celestial body.
The Psyche probe is scheduled to take off at 10:19 a.m. local time (2:19 p.m. GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
However, there would be only a 40% chance that the weather would be favorable for takeoff. A new attempt might take place on Saturday, the agency said AFP.
NASA found keys to understanding the origin of life on Earth, inside the asteroid Bennu
Humanity has already visited worlds made of rocks, ice or gas. But “this will be the first time it will do so to a world that has a metal surface“said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, scientific manager of the mission, at a press conference.
The journey will be long: Psyche is in the outer part of the asteroid beltbetween the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
The NASA probe will travel around 3.5 million kilometers to reach him, probably in the northern summer of 2029.
Thanks to the light reflected from its surface, scientists know that Psyche is very dense and it is made of metal, plus some other material, perhaps rocks. “We don’t really know what Psyche is like,” explained the researcher.
“I often joke that it’s shaped like a potato, because potatoes come in a lot of different shapes, so I’m not wrong.”
NASA published a new report on UFOs
Scientists think that Psyche, more than 200 kilometers long, might be the core of an ancient celestial body whose surface was torn off by asteroid impacts.
The Earth, like Mars, Venus or Mercury, has a metallic core. “We will never see these cores, it’s too hot and too deep,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton.
The mission to Psyche is therefore “our only way of seeing a nucleus.”
Volcanoes, cracks, craters?
Psyche was formed a few 4.5 billion yearsin it birth of our solar system. It is possible that it has experienced volcanic eruptions, of which remains might remain in the form of ancient lava flows.
Then, when Psyche cooled, its contraction may have caused huge cracks to form.
Scientists are also eager to know what craters look like on a metallic celestial body: the material propelled by the impact of the asteroids might have been frozen in the air and formed a kind of spikes.
NASA will send humans to the “dark side of the Moon” with the prospect of reaching Mars in the future
What will the study of the asteroid Psyche be like?
The probe will remain in orbit around Psyche for just over two years to study it, alternating between various altitudes.
It will use three scientific instruments: multispectral imagers to photograph it, spectrometers to determine its composition, and magnetometers to measure its magnetic field.
To move, the probe will also use Hall effect thrusters, a novelty in interplanetary travel. These motors use the electricity provided by the solar panels of the probe to obtain ions of a noble gas (xenon gas), which are then accelerated by passing through an electric field.
They are then ejected at very high speed, “five times faster than the fuel that comes out of a conventional rocket,” said David Oh, a NASA engineer.
“Is he kind of things we saw in Star Wars and Star Trekbut today we are making the future a reality,” he said.
The Psyche mission will also test a laser communication system, which should allow more data to be transmitted than radio communications.
ED
1697178623
#NASA #launches #mission #asteroid #Psyche #metal