INTRODUCTION
- In August 2022, NASA will launch the Psyche mission, which will study a large metal asteroid known as (16) Psyche in the main asteroid belt. Between Mars and Jupiter, the asteroid Psyche orbits the Sun.
- The Psyche mission is one of NASA’s two early Solar System exploration projects. Another mission, Lucy, will launch in September 2021 to examine Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids to learn more about the early Solar System.
DETAILS OF PSYCHE MISSION –
- Arizona State University is in charge of the Psyche mission. Mission management, navigation, and operations will be investigated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. On January 4, 2017, NASA chose the Psyche project as one of two missions to investigate the early Solar System.
- The launch of the mission will be in August 2022 and the arrival on the asteroid Psyche will be in 2026.
- The Psyche asteroid has been seen for 21 months (studying and mapping the asteroid Psyche).
- The launch of the Psyche spacecraft from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in 2022 and by 2023 it will be flying by Mars. Later it will stay on the Psyche asteroid for 21 months after arrival in 2026.
- Psyche’s scientific equipment include the X-band Gravity Science Investigation, Multispectral Imager, Spectrometer for Gamma Rays and Neutrons and A magnetometer is a device that detects magnetic fields.
- Psyche’s mission goals are to learn how planets and other things are divided into layers, such as cores, mantles, and crusts.
- Examine an asteroid formed of metal rather than rock and ice for the first time, and learn about our solar system’s early ages.
THE ASTEROID PSYCHE –
- Psyche was identified in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis as the 16th asteroid. He called the asteroid Psyche in honour of Psyche, the Goddess of the Soul in Greek mythology.
- The asteroid is 3 times further away from the Sun than the Earth, measuring 130 miles (210 kilometres) in diameter.
