Psyche, the NASA mission
to explore a metal-rock asteroid of the same name, recently passed a crucial
milestone that brings it closer to its August 2022 launch date. Now the mission
is moving from planning and designing to high-gear manufacturing of the
spacecraft hardware that will fly to its target in the main asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter.
Mission
scientists and engineers worked together to plan the investigations that will
determine what makes up the asteroid Psyche, one of the most intriguing targets
in the main asteroid belt. Scientists think that, unlike most other asteroids
that are rocky or icy bodies, Psyche is largely metallic iron and nickel –
similar to Earth’s core – and could be the heart of an early planet that lost
its outer layers.
In
this image, an electric Hall thruster, identical to those that will be used to
propel the Psyche spacecraft, undergoes testing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. The blue glow is produced by the xenon propellant, a neutral gas
used in car headlights and plasma TVs.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
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