Come August 1, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will become the departure point for yet another unique mission in NASA’s history: one meant to look at what may be the metallic core of an early planet, in a bid to help us better understand how these floating balls of rock are formed, among others.
The mission is called Psyche, after the asteroid it targets. That would be a “unique metal asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter,” one of the first asteroids (the 16th, to be precise) to be discovered by the human race - Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis stumbled upon it all the way back in 1852. The rock is 140 miles (226 km) in diameter and is akin to an exposed nickel-iron planet core.
Psyche the spacecraft is being put together by Maxar Technologies. It is the size of a tennis court, complete with its solar panels, and packed with scientific instruments, including spectrometers, imagers, magnetometers, and, of course, a communication system.
The machine will be powered by a solar electric propulsion system, meaning it uses solar arrays to turn sunlight into electricity. Combining that with xenon used as a propellant, it should allow Psyche to travel toward its target at 124,000 miles per hour (200,000 kph).
Earlier this week, the American space agency showed the spacecraft for the first time to the public, more precisely to reporters allowed into the clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the thing is being put together. By definition, a clean room requires strict measures to prevent the contamination of the spacecraft, so everyone attending had to wipe down their equipment and wear special gear.
For all the spectacle it made of the whole thing, NASA released just two images of the Psyche as it is in the real world, and you can enjoy them in the gallery above, alongside older ones, showing the spacecraft in a less complete form.
Psyche the spacecraft is being put together by Maxar Technologies. It is the size of a tennis court, complete with its solar panels, and packed with scientific instruments, including spectrometers, imagers, magnetometers, and, of course, a communication system.
The machine will be powered by a solar electric propulsion system, meaning it uses solar arrays to turn sunlight into electricity. Combining that with xenon used as a propellant, it should allow Psyche to travel toward its target at 124,000 miles per hour (200,000 kph).
Earlier this week, the American space agency showed the spacecraft for the first time to the public, more precisely to reporters allowed into the clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the thing is being put together. By definition, a clean room requires strict measures to prevent the contamination of the spacecraft, so everyone attending had to wipe down their equipment and wear special gear.
For all the spectacle it made of the whole thing, NASA released just two images of the Psyche as it is in the real world, and you can enjoy them in the gallery above, alongside older ones, showing the spacecraft in a less complete form.