2023-10-16 17:15:41
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has begun its journey to the asteroid of the same name, a world much richer in metals than any other asteroid previously visited. Psyche, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, will be the first metallic asteroid to be visited by a spacecraft. Due to its peculiar composition, the star could reveal some of the ins and outs of the formation of planets like Earth, whose deep interior is also rich in metals.
The Psyche spacecraft left Earth on October 13, 2023, powered by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The takeoff took place from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
At the time of writing, staff at the Psyche mission control center have already received the first data transmissions from the spacecraft, indicating that everything is fine, and the probe’s solar panels are now fully deployed.
The ship will be propelled by ion engines powered by solar energy. Its solar panels are capable of producing more than 20 kilowatts of power when the spacecraft is close to Earth, but will generate just over 2 kilowatts of power when it reaches the asteroid Psyche, which is far from the Sun. However, this energy will be more than sufficient to cover the needs of the ship during its journey and its research work on the asteroid, including the operation of the scientific instruments, telecommunications, the systems that control the ship’s temperature and the ship’s ion propulsion engines.
These thrusters use electromagnetic fields to accelerate and eject ions (charged atoms) from the neutral xenon gas. The ejected ions create the thrust that will propel the Psyche through space and emit a blue glow. Without any atmospheric resistance to slow it down, the spacecraft will accelerate to speeds of around 200,000 kilometers per hour relative to Earth during its interplanetary journey to the asteroid belt.
Shortly after launch, the rounded shape of the Earth as well as the black background of space can already be clearly seen from the vehicle. (Photo: NASA Television)
At the beginning of its journey, which will last about six years, the Psyche spacecraft will spend about 100 days in the initial checks phase so that it can be verified that everything is working correctly. Once this is done, the thrusters will start. About 2.5 years after launch, the spacecraft will fly over Mars to receive a gravitational boost. By passing very close to a planet in the appropriate way, a ship can see its speed increased, while avoiding not only falling to that planet but also entering orbit to it. The result is that the ship continues traveling through space but faster.
About 5.5 years after launch, the cruise period will come to an end and, around June 2029, the spacecraft will be able to take photographs of the asteroid Psyche. In August 2029, the spacecraft will enter orbit of the star, which is more than 200 kilometers in diameter.
A phase of observations will then begin that will last 26 months.
It is believed that the asteroid Psyche could be the core (or part of it) of a planetesimal, the “foundations” of a rocky planet that never formed. It is possible that Psyche collided with other large celestial bodies during its childhood, losing its rocky outer crust. Since we can’t visit Earth’s metallic core, visiting Psyche could offer a unique window into the history of the violent collisions and accumulation of matter that created Earth, Mars and Venus.
While the rocks of Mars, Venus and Earth are full of iron oxides, the surface of Psyche does not appear to contain many of these chemical compounds. This suggests that Psyche’s story differs from the usual stories of planet formation.
If it is proven that the asteroid is material left over from the foundations of a planet, it will be possible to find out how the history of its formation and evolution is similar and different from that of rocky planets like Earth. If Psyche is discovered to be no such thing, it could turn out to be a type of original solar system object never seen before.
Measurements made with three scientific instruments installed on the ship and a thorough investigation into how the force of gravity of the star influences the ship’s orbit will help clarify this.
The spacecraft’s magnetometer will look for evidence of an ancient magnetic field on the asteroid. A residual magnetic field would be solid evidence that the star formed from the core of a planetary body.
The spacecraft’s neutron and gamma ray spectrometer will help determine the chemical elements that make up the asteroid and better understand how it formed.
The spacecraft’s multispectral imaging camera will provide information on Psyche’s mineral composition as well as its topography.
The mission’s scientific team will also take advantage of the telecommunications system to carry out scientific research on the gravity of the star. By analyzing the radio waves with which the ship communicates, scientists can measure how the asteroid Psyche affects the ship’s orbit. This information will help them determine with great precision the rotation, mass and gravitational field of the asteroid, offering additional information about the composition and structure of the interior of the star.
The mission will also test a new technology, called DSOC, for laser communications with high data rates in deep space. This technology could be routinely adopted by future NASA missions.
Another innovation of the Psyche spacecraft is that it will use a highly efficient ion propulsion system beyond the Moon for the first time.
Powered by Hall-effect thrusters, Psyche’s solar ion propulsion system harnesses energy generated by large solar panels to create electric and magnetic fields. These, in turn, accelerate and eject charged atoms, or ions, from a fuel called xenon (a neutral gas used in car headlights and plasma televisions) at such a high speed that it creates propulsion, or thrust. The ionized gas emits a blue glow. Each of the craft’s four thrusters, which will operate one at a time, exert the same amount of force that would be felt by holding three quarters in the palm of your hand. In the frictionless vacuum of space, this will cause the spacecraft to accelerate slowly but steadily.
This propulsion system is based on similar technologies used by NASA’s Dawn mission, but Psyche is the agency’s first mission to use Hall effect thrusters in deep space.
The Psyche mission is based on resources and knowledge from NASA as well as various universities and companies. The lead researcher, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, works at Arizona State University (ASU) in the United States. (Source: NCYT from Amazings/NASA)
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