NASA is set to embark on a unique mission to explore one of the rarest types of asteroids in our solar system.
The launch, scheduled for October 12 from the Kennedy Space Center, comes after a delay due to issues with the spacecraft's nitrogen cold gas thrusters.
"NASA is just days from launching a mission to a one-of-a-kind asteroid that may tell us how planets like our own Earth formed!" stated Michelle Handleman, a spokesperson for NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.
The spacecraft, named Psyche, will undertake a six-year voyage to an eponymous metal-rich asteroid, nestled in the orbit between Mars and Jupiter. The mission's objective is to have Psyche orbit the asteroid for 26 months, mapping and studying its properties in "unprecedented detail," according to Handleman.
"This asteroid is unique because its made of significant amounts of metal and may be the leftover core material from planetary building blocks," Handleman further elaborated.
Psyche, measuring 173 miles at its longest point, is the largest of approximately nine asteroids in our solar system composed predominantly of metals such as iron and nickel, as per Lori Glaze, Director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.
"When planets form, the inside melts and all the heavy metals go to the middle and then the lighter rocky material goes out on the outside just like Earth, Mars and Mercury, but if there was a big impact that hit that object and blew off all of that rocky crust, it wouldve left that metal core exposed," Glaze explained. "If we go to Psyche, and it is an exposed metal core, thats the only way we can actually see inside a planet to see what a metal core looks like," she added. "Weve never seen anything like it before."
The asteroid was named Psyche, after the Greek goddess of the soul, following its discovery by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on March 17, 1852, as reported by NASA.
The mission was postponed by a week to allow NASA additional time to finalize the parameters controlling the spacecrafts gas thrusters, including adjustments for warmer temperature predictions.
The mission is a joint venture between Arizona State University and NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is responsible for mission management, operations, and navigation. NASA intends to live stream the launch on NASA TV and social media.
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