SpaceX successfully launched NASA’s Psyche asteroid exploration probe sorae satellite portal website

SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket on October 13, 2023, Japan time. SpaceX and NASA reported on social media and their official websites that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) “Psyche” spacecraft has successfully separated from the rocket.

Information regarding the launch is below.

■ Launch information: Falcon Heavy (Psyche)

Rocket: Falcon Heavy
Launch date and time: October 13, 2023, at 23:19 JST[نجاح]Launch site: Kennedy Space Center (USA)
Payload: Spacecraft for the Psyche asteroid exploration mission.

“Psyche” aims to orbit the asteroid “16 Psyche”, which has a maximum width of 280 kilometers and orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is part of NASA’s Discovery 14 project, which aims for low-cost and highly efficient exploration. It was chosen in 2017 to be the second mission. The Psyche spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Psyche in August 2029 and conduct 26 months of orbital exploration.

Psyche is classified as an M-type asteroid, rich in metals such as iron and nickel, and it has been speculated that it may be the core of a protoplanet that formed in the early solar system. The Psyche mission will be the first to observe a metallic asteroid up close, as asteroids and comets closely observed by spacecraft in the past were primarily composed of rocks and ice. Although it is not possible to examine the Earth’s core directly, it is expected that valuable information about the formation of Earth-like planets will be obtained from observations of Psyche, which may have been a protoplanetary core.

■ Launch related photos/videos

[▲ ينفصل مسبار Psyche عن المرحلة الثانية من Falcon Heavy ويبتعد. نقلاً عن البث المباشر للإدارة الوطنية للملاحة الجوية والفضاء (ناسا) (الائتمان: ناسا)]

The spacecraft will now travel for six years and about 2.2 billion miles to the asteroid Psyche, which is currently orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. https://t.co/29bfT6fod2

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2023

■ Launch relevant links

source

• SpaceX – Psychological task
• NASA – Psychological Mission (NASA Blogs)

Written by: Editorial Department Breaking News Team