NASA’s Psyche mission is almost ready after installing giant solar arrays in the spacecraft. The mission will see the spacecraft Psyche make a trip to a mysterious metal-rich asteroid
NASA’s ambitious project – the Psyche Mission – is almost ready to launch after installing huge solar arrays into the spacecraft. The Psyche spacecraft will explore a metal-rich asteroid called 16 Psyche that is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The mission of the same name will investigate the origin of the planetary core by studying the metallic asteroid. With the installation of two solar arrays, the final piece in its assembly, NASA says the spacecraft will be able to travel a distance of 2.4 billion kilometers after its scheduled launch on May 1. 8 in 2022 and reveal some secrets about the Earth.
“Seeing the spacecraft fully assembled for the first time is a huge accomplishment; have a lot of pride. This is the really interesting part. You’re feeling it all come together. You feel the energy shift and shift,” says Brian Bone. Bone led the assembly, testing, and launch operations for the mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Why are solar arrays important?
The solar arrays are the largest ever installed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They are 75 square meters wide, contain five panels, and are cross-shaped. The solar arrays will be used to power the spacecraft during its flight. The large size is due to technological limitations in collecting solar energy in the darker regions of the solar system. For example, a typical solar array might collect 21 kilowatts of energy (enough to power 3-4 average homes) near Earth, but after reaching asteroid 16 Psyche, it will only collects about 2 kilowatts – enough to power a hair dryer.
Why NASA Discovered A Mysterious Asteroid Rich in Metals
The mission is crucial for NASA to understand the origins of the Earth. 16 Psyche is the heaviest known M-type asteroid. M-type asteroids contain higher concentrations of the metallic phase. In particular, this asteroid has been observed to show an iron-nickel composition. It is believed that the asteroid is an exposed iron core of a protoplanet, the remains of a violent collision with another space rock that destroyed its crust and mantle. Why it matters because Earth also has a metal core that is rich in iron and nickel. Investigating this asteroid could help understand Earth’s origins and exactly what lies within our Earth’s core.
