2023-10-13 17:21:50
As reported by Digital LookNASA’s Psyche probe has just been launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, heading to the Asteroid Belt – a region of the Solar System formed by various rocky debris located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the most 3.5 billion km from Earth – find out how the launch went here.
The goal of the mission is to investigate the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche, which scientists suspect is the remnant core of a planetesimal (a building block of a planet) – something similar to the Earth’s core. Therefore, the investigation of this body can bring revelations about our own world.
Mission Psyche is launched by NASA this Friday (13). Credit: NASA
What you will read here:
NASA successfully launches the Psyche mission this Friday (13);The spacecraft took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket;The objective is to investigate the asteroid 16 Psyche, rich in metals;It is expected to reach its destination in 2029;Well before that, however, the mission will already be able to transmit images of the journey and the object.
Mars will serve as a “slingshot” for the Psyche probe
Within nine months, the Psyche probe should pass by Mars. It will use the planet’s gravitational force as a “slingshot” towards its target – which should be reached in 2029.
As the spacecraft approaches the asteroid, the mission team will turn on its cameras, revealing surface features of this strange world for the first time (and in high definition).
These images will also help engineers orient themselves as they prepare to enter the rock’s orbit. The spacecraft’s initial orbit will be 700 kilometers above the asteroid’s surface.
During this first go-around, the mission design and navigation team will be focused on measuring 16 Psyche’s gravitational field – the force that will keep the probe in orbit.
With an understanding of the gravitational field, the team can safely navigate the equipment closer and closer to the surface, for a study estimated to last between 22 and 26 months. During this period, the probe will collect scientific data in progressively lower orbits.
NASA website will make raw images of the mission available
According to NASA’s plans, about two months after launch, while the team carries out an initial check of the spacecraft and scientific instruments, in the so-called commissioning phase, test images from the Psyche mission should begin to arrive – i.e. , in mid-December.
Once scientists confirm that the probe’s imager is working as expected, the raw recordings (raw material) will be hosted in a page on the agency’s website.
The spacecraft holds a technology demonstration called Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) to test high data rate laser communications that could be used by future NASA missions.
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