NASA Unveils Process Leading To Mission To Strange Asteroid Psyche In 2022

The asteroid Psyche is located in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (photo: doc. NASA)

JAKARTA - NASA has just revealed more about its plans to visit a strange metallic asteroid dubbed Psyche for next year's mission.

The mission will use a spacecraft with the asteroid name Psyche, which will launch in August 2022. The asteroid Psyche is located in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

This asteroid has been found to contain mostly nickel and iron material. Of course making it a very unusual asteroid, because most asteroids are essentially rock, so the researchers wanted to understand whether Psyche could be the core of a developing planet.

"If it turns out to be part of a metallic core, it will be part of the first generation of early nuclei in our solar system. But we don't really know, and we won't know anything until we get there," said the lead researcher. Psyche's mission, Lindy Elkins-Tanton.

"We want to ask the main question about the material that makes up planets. We are filled with questions and not many answers. This is real exploration."

To find out more about asteroids, the Psyche spacecraft will be armed with instruments such as a magnetometer to measure magnetic fields and a spectrometer that uses light to determine what an asteroid is made of.

However, before scientists can put the instrument to work, they must reach the asteroid and enter orbit.

After launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in August 2022, Psyche will sail past Mars nine months later, using the planet's gravitational force to catapult itself toward the asteroid. This is a total journey of about 1.5 billion miles (2.4 billion kilometers).

The spacecraft will begin its final approach to the asteroid in late 2025. As it gets closer to its target, the mission team will turn on its camera, and asteroid Psyche's visuals will change from a blurry blob to a high-definition image. Later this appearance will reveal the features and material of the surface of this strange asteroid for the first time.