Img source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Psyche is a NASA mission to investigate the asteroid 16 Psyche. It is suspected that the object will be rich in metal and hopefully reveal information about the formation of the early Solar System.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: One Month From Launch: Psyche Mission to a Metal Asteroid (Live Briefing)
National Academy of Sciences: The NASA Psyche Mission: An Electric Journey to a Metal World
The orbiter will launch on a Falcon Heavy rocket out of Florida. The center core will be expended. The two boosters will return to landing pads at Cape Canaveral.
The orbiter will travel five years and 10 months to the asteroid, which orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The science mission will last 21 months in orbit around 16 Psyche.
Hall-Effect thrusters power the orbiter. These convert solar energy into charged xenon ions which will create thrust.
A secondary payload is an optical laser transmission system, which will test higher data rate transmissions beyond the Moon down to Earth.
Live Stream:
- NASA: Psyche Launches to a Metal Asteroid (Official NASA Broadcast)
- Everyday Astronaut: Watch NASA launch "Psyche" on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket to the metal asteroid, 16 Psyche!
Official Psyche mission website: science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche