NASA Psyche asteroid mission: The NASA mission has a proposed 2022 launchPosted on 06/12/2019 2:25:53 PM PDT by Red Badger
NASA is preparing to explore a mysterious asteroid made of metal, the US space agency has announced.
The value of all the nickel and iron that NASA believes makes up 16-Psyche’s oddly-shaped space rock in the asteroid belt’s outer reaches is estimated at $10,000 quadrillion. This is a massive sum, but NASA’s Psyche mission, which has now received approval to enter the final development stages before manufacturing begins for its 2022 launch, is actually after a much bigger prize – revealing how Earth's origins. NASA researchers believe asteroid Psyche is key to understanding how planetary bodies are formed.
This is because the space scientists theorise Psyche is really the core of a planet which broke apart following a succession of apocalyptic collisions.
We are one big step closer to uncovering the secrets of Psyche
Professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton
NASA experts hope they can observe the solar system’s distant past, when protoplanet encounters created Earth and destroyed other would-be terrestrial planets.
These resemble those remnants floating between Mars and Jupiter.
Professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University, the study’s lead investigator said: “With the transition into this new mission phase, we are one big step closer to uncovering the secrets of Psyche, a giant mysterious metallic asteroid, and that means the world to us.”
There are still three more phases of mission planning that the Psyche team needs to clear.
The latest phase begins in early 2021, which includes the final manufacturing and testing of the spacecraft, ahead of the planned 2022 launch.
And the final phase will happen as soon as Psyche’s exploratory craft hits the vacuum of space, NASA said.
This will cover the deep space operations of the Psyche mission and the collection of data for science.
NASA predicts Psyche will arrive at the eponymous asteroid on January 31, 2026 after skimming Mars in 2023.
This is two years before SpaceX CEO Elon Musk predicted the first human astronauts would arrive.
Instruments on the Psyche craft will include a magnetometer designed to detect and measure the remnant magnetic field of the asteroid.
A multi-spectral imager will be on board to provide high-resolution images to determine the composition of the asteroid.
Psyche will also include a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer to measure, and map the asteroid’s elemental composition along with cutting-edge laster technology designed for long-range space communications.
Part of the NASA Discovery Program, the mission is being undertaken in conjunction with Maxar Space Solutions, which is providing the electric propulsion chassis, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Arizona State University.
Psyche offers an opportunity to inspect and study a planetary core up close.
Psyche appears to be the exposed iron-nickel core of a proto-planet, a small world that early in the solar system’s history, but never reached planetary size, much like Vesta and Ceres, which NASA’s Dawn spacecraft explored.
NASA Psyche asteroid mission: The NASA mission has a proposed 2022 launch
Chunk of Death Star?
Attach rockets to the thing, then point it in the right direction, it will get here on its own..................
Then it MUST FLOW!..................
True. But as is usually the case with real estate, what matters is location. Even if the real estate is on the outer reaches of the asteroid belt.
Just attach rockets and aim...............
do you evah clean the toilet superdweeb?
Here’s the Wiki page for one heckuva great asteroid mission.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_(spacecraft)
Take it to a galactic scrap dealer. Quick cash, no questions asked.
??
We have to cater to illegals and welfare queens.
Scientific progress is of no importance according to the dims wanting to control everything.
sorry what superkrypton woman was saying to superman in the stare
That's odd because that's the base price of Unobtanium
At $100,000 per lb the cheddar ought to be really really good. These calculations of value ignore the cost of the energy required to get to an asteroid to get anything back from it.
Easier to say 10 quintillion.
Only problem is that if they brought it down to mine somehow, the price of the material would drop tremendously.
I have only glossed over this. I am not a metallurgist, I am a machinist. 30 years worth. I cut the stuff i dont investigate its properties. Nickle alloys are high heat application materials. Inconel 625 and 718, stellite, waspalloy and a few more . Not stainless steel or titanium. Nickle alloys are their own class of stupid high resistance to stupid high heat and toughness that make carbide cutters wear out quick.
This cant be about money. What fool looks to space to make a buck....not having a tractor beam you know?
This has got to be a bogus story. Good line for the layman though. However...If I were to choose a material to make the ultimate earth-shattering asteroid, guess what it would be?
I was thinking it would make nickel and iron worthless. Free for the taking.
A diamond?
“That’s no moon.”
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