[▲ Impressione artistica della sonda asteroide della NASA “Psyche” (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)]
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on October 28 the launch of a delayed asteroid exploration mission“Psyche”announced the continuation ofA new scheduled launch date for the spacecraft may be soonOctober 10, 2023is provided.
Psyche is an asteroid that orbits the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.“Psyche”(16 Psyche, maximum width 280 km), was selected in 2017 under NASA’s “Discovery Program” with the aim of exploring at low cost and high efficiency.
Psyche is classified as an “M-type asteroid” rich in metals such as iron and nickel and has been hypothesized to be the core of a protoplanet that formed early in the solar system. The asteroids and comets observed by spacecraft in the past consisted mainly of rock and ice.Psyche is the first mission to closely observe a metallic asteroidbecomes. Although the core of the Earth cannot be examined directly, it is expected that observations of Psyche, which may have been the core of a protoplanet, will provide valuable insight into the formation of planets such as Earth.
[▲ Rappresentazione artistica della sonda asteroide Psyche (davanti) che osserva l’asteroide Psyche (retro) (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)]
Psyche was originally supposed to launch the spacecraft inside the window from August 1, 2022 to October 11, 2022 and preparations were underway, but the test bed for the software test used in the ground tests (test environment and platform) and there was not enough time to complete the software tests by 11 October, so it was decided to postpone the launch to June 2022.
NASA launched an independent review committee in July 2022 to investigate the issues that led to the postponement of the Psyche mission, identify issues not yet recognized by the team, and work to be completed before the rice field launch. As of 28 October the final report has not yet been completed, but as I mentioned at the beginningNASA decides to continue the missionDone.
Psyche’s new launch window isOctober 10, 2023starts with. The rover will swing Mars in 2026 to change its orbit and Psyche will haveAugust 2029It should also arrive at In addition, as the relative positions of celestial bodies in the solar system constantly change due to their orbital motion, the launch times suitable for heading from earth to a specific celestial body and the time required for flight also change. Psyche was originally scheduled to launch in 2022 and arrive in Psyche in 2026, so the flight period has been extended by around two years.
Deputy Director of NASA Science Mission HeadquartersThomas Zurbuchencommented: “ I have high expectations for the scientific knowledge that the Psyche mission will bring and its contribution to understanding the core of the earth. ”
* In this article, the English pronunciation of “Psyche” is used for the probe and mission name.
connection:NASA asteroid explorer “Saiki” postponed launch to 2022 to ensure time for software testing
Source
- Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
- NASA / JPL – NASA continues the mission of the asteroid Psyche
Text / Matsumura Takehiro
