NASA’s Psyche Mission: A Mission to the Mysterious Metallic Asteroid!

The Psyche Asteroid (Source: Arizona State University/NASA)

NASA is all set to launch its much-awaited Psyche mission on Thursday, October 12, 2023 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this article, learn about this extraordinary mission, which will uncover the secrets of the metallic asteroid and may provide information about the origin of the Earth’s core.

What is Psyche?

Psyche is a metal-rich asteroid discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale De Gasparis and named after the goddess of the soul in ancient Greek mythology. It is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter [3 astronomical units away from the Sun (the distance between the Sun and Earth’s mean orbit is defined as 1 astronomical unit)], with an average diameter of 140 miles or is 226 km and has a shape of Potato. Psyche takes four hours to make one revolution on its axis and about five Earth years to complete one revolution around the Sun. In order of discovery, Psyche is the 16th asteroid to be discovered and is therefore sometimes called 16 Psyche.

What makes the asteroid Psyche unique?

The Psyche is most likely a survivor of several turbulent hit-and-run collisions, which was common during the early stages of the Solar System’s formation and thus it might be the remnant core material. As a result, Psyche may provide insight into the origin of the Earth’s core and the cores of other Solar system’s planets.

What are the science goals of the Psyche Mission?

Psyche Mission team will seek answers to the following questions

• What is the age of the Psyche (how old it is)?
• Is it the remnant core material?
• Are the conditions of its formation similar to those of the Earth’s core?
• What is its surface like?

What is the timeline and trajectory of the Psyche Mission?

Psyche Mission launch will take place on Oct. 5, 2023 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The mission will ride on SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and will use solar-electric (low-thrust) propulsion and Mars gravity-assist to travel nearly 2.5 billion miles (4 billion kilometers) to arrive at its destination in 2029. The size of the spacecraft with solar panels is comparable to the size of a single tennis court. It will orbit the asteroid for at least 26 months, where it will perform its task in four different orbits around the asteroid; Orbit A (characterizations), Orbit B (topography), Orbit C (Gravity science), Orbit D (elemental mapping). From orbit A, it will descend towards the asteroid in each subsequent orbit and reach closest in orbit D.

Timeline and orbits of the spacecraft. (Source: NASA)

What equipment does Psyche have on board?

1. Multispectral Imager: A pair of identical cameras engineered for acquiring geologic, compositional, and topographic data of Psyche.
2. Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer: Tosense, measure, and map elemental composition of Psyche.
3. Magnetometer: To sense and measure the remanent magnetic field of Psyche.
4. X-band Radio Telecommunications System:  To measure the gravity field of Psyche.
5. Deep Space Optical Communication (DSOC) System:  To test a new laser communication technology that would communicate between a probe in deep space and Earth that could increase data transfer rates compared to current technology that relies on radio waves.

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Learn more about Psyche: Psyche