NASA has postponed the launch of the mission to the asteroid Psyche. They now plan to launch the mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on October 12.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)
Elon Musk-led SpaceX was set to go on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) mission to the asteroid Psyche on October 5. But NASA on Thursday announced that it has postponed the planned launch to 7.46 PM IST on October 12, delaying it by a week.
The space agency said that the change will allow its teams to complete verifications of the parameters used to control the spacecraft’s nitrogen cold gas thrusters. These thrusters can be used by the vehicle to point itself in different directions for science observations or other needs like spacecraft orientation and momentum management.
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Both the mission and the asteroid it is going to are named Psyche and the mission was chosen by NASA in 2017 as one of the two missions for its Discovery Program. The program funds relatively low-cost missions to targets within the solar system. Psyche is only the 16th asteroid to be discovered in history, according to Arizona State University. Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis found it in 1852 and named it after the goddess of soul in ancient Greek mythology.
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The asteroid could be very rich in metals and scientists believe that it could be made from the core of a planetisimal, the building block of planetary systems. If it was a perfect sphere, it would have a diameter of about 226 kilometres, which is around the distance from Delhi to Chandigarh. Scientists estimate that it has a surface area of about 165,800 kilometres. For reference, the state of Tamil Nadu covers a land area of about 130,058 square kilometres.
Studying cores found deep inside terrestrial planets like Earth would help scientists understand the dynamic processes of collisions and accelerations that create the rocky worlds in the firsts place. But the problem is that even the Earth’s core is not directly accessible. Exploring asteroids like Psyche would be an excellent way to look at what could have become a planet’s core.
Mission managers from NASA and SpaceX met on Thursday to conduct a Flight Readiness Review at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They provided an update on the mission status and certified the readiness of the flight to initiate final launch preparation activities including a static fire test of the Falcon Heavy rocket today.
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First published on: 29-09-2023 at 16:43 IST
