This artist’s concept features the 140-mile-wide (226-kilometer-wide) asteroid Psyche, which lies in it. … [+]
NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
NASA’s daring mission to a strange and special distance called 16 Psyche is now entering its final stage. The spacecraft is expected to arrive soon in its clean rooms in preparation for its launch, reports the space agency.
With Earth leaving in 18 months, the spacecraft’s science instruments and engineering systems have passed and are now ready for testing, assembly and integration – something its chief researcher described as “near miraculous.” ”With pandemic.
Soon, NASA’s Psyche mission is underway – and it even has its own smartphone app.
In danger for astronauts is a better understanding of how the Earth and other planets were created.
Oh, and the small issue of 16 Psyche is probably worth $ 10,000 quadrillion if mined. The World Bank valued the world economy at $ 133 trillion in 2019 – 75 188 times less.
What is a 16 Psyche?
16 The psyche – more recently its opposite – is an asteroid consisting mainly of iron and nickel (hence the nominal value) in the asteroid belt of the Solar System between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. About 140 miles / 226 kilometers in diameter, it is thought that 16 Psyche could be at the open heart of a dead planet that lost its outer layers.
NASA wants to know what its surface looks like, how old it is, whether it’s the heart of an early planet, and whether it formed in similar ways to the heart of Earth.
Is 16 Psyche really that big for money? In practice, the act of mining iron and nickel is likely to fall commodity markets for these facilities.
This artist’s concept, updated from June 2020, features NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Set to launch … [+]
NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
Why is 16 Psyche so interesting?
Psyche’s study suggests that planetary scientists can discover how rocky planets were created.
Early nickel-iron corals of planets are one of the building blocks of our Solar System. All rocky planets have a nickel-iron core. However, they are wrapped in costumes and fleece so impossible to examine.
Psyche was recently studied by the Hubble Space Telescope.
What is a Psyche mission?
A mission of nearly $ 1 billion to visit the asteroid that is part of NASA’s Discovery Program of low-cost robotic space missions.
Approximately $ 850 million is spent on mission development, work and science, and a further $ 117 million in start-up costs – a total of $ 967 million.
It is scheduled to launch in August 2022 at the top of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Hitting a mission will be NASA’s Janus mission – two tiny satellites that will visit two binary asteroids.
Once at Psyche the spacecraft uses its magnetometer to detect a magnetic field – an intelligible sign of the appearance of a similar metal – capturing images of its surface, and examining its make up. Only then will we know its true value – both scientifically and economically.
In this photo, taken in November 2020, technologists power NASA’s main Psyche group … [+]
Maxar Technologies
What is the status of the Psyche mission?
The solar-powered Psyche spacecraft is now entering Phase D – the final spacecraft assembly, trial and launch. There are usually six stages in a space mission, AF. The next thing for Psyche is Level E – deep space work.
Led by Arizona State University, Maxar Technologies ’Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) chassis was built by Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California.
The spacecraft will now move to the bright room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for assembly, testing and launch operations.
What do people say about Psyche’s mission?
“This is the final stage, when all the puzzle pieces come together and we get on the rocket,” said Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University in Tempe. “The fact that we can achieve this and that we are overcoming our challenges feels almost miraculous,” she said, referring to the pandemic and the ensuing unrest. on foot.
“Reaching this milestone has a special meaning – not only for this project we have been working for ten years, but also because of what has been happening in the past. short in our lives. ”
An artist’s concept of the Psyche spacecraft, which directly examines an asteroid … [+]
NASA / JPL-Caltech
How does the spaceship reach 16 Psyche?
After launching in August 2022, Psyche will receive gravity assistance from Mars in May 2023 and will reach its target in early 2026 after a journey of 230 million miles / 370 million kilometers from Earth. It lasts for 21 months.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.