<
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/08/everything-is-coming-together-for-launch-of-nasas-mission-to-a-metal-asteroid/>
"TITUSVILLE, Florida—NASA's Psyche spacecraft is running a year behind schedule
before the beginning of its journey to explore a metal asteroid, but mission
managers said Friday the probe is essentially ready for launch in less than two
months.
The spacecraft is heading for asteroid Psyche, the mission's namesake, about
three times farther from the Sun than Earth. Psyche is the largest metal-rich
asteroid in the Solar System, with an average diameter of around 140 miles (226
kilometers). Observations from Earth indicate it's made mostly of nickel and
iron.
The Psyche mission will be the first to explore a metal-rich asteroid, which
may be the leftover core of a proto-planet that began forming in the early
Solar System more than 4 billion years ago.
The spacecraft is ready for fueling inside a clean room near the launch site at
the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Two large solar arrays are folded up like
an accordion against the central body of the spacecraft, and technicians have
finished installing blankets of thermal insulation to shield the probe from the
harsh cold of deep space.
In a few days, ground teams plan to start loading more than a metric ton of
xenon gas into seven tanks inside the Psyche spacecraft, and cold nitrogen gas
into three separate reservoirs. Those propellants will drive the Psyche
spacecraft toward its destination in the asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter.
The xenon will feed an electric propulsion system with four Hall effect
thrusters, which will pulse almost continuously for Psyche's nearly six-year
voyage to its asteroid target, where it will enter orbit in August 2029. The
spacecraft will maneuver into several different orbits around Psyche, getting
as close as 47 miles (75 kilometers) before its primary exploration phase ends
in late 2031."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-endometriosis-poverty-mexico-indigenous-canada/>
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
