Psyche and JUICE: Spacecraft are heading to a metal asteroid and Jupiter’s moons in 2023

The JUICE and Psyche missions are scheduled to launch in 2023 and aim to study the potential of Jupiter’s largest moon and the planet’s iron core to understand how the world could become habitable. increase.

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December 28, 2022

A large region of rock and metal: PSYCHE ASTEROID ILLUSTRATION This illustration shows the 140-mile-wide (226-kilometer) asteroid Psyche in the major asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Psyche is the focus of his NASA mission of the same name. The Psyche spacecraft is scheduled to launch in August 2022 and reach the asteroid in 2026. There, it will orbit for 21 months to study its composition. Based on data obtained from Earth, scientists believe that Psyche is a mixture of metal and rock. As shown in this rendering, rocks and metals can be found in large states or regions of the asteroid. Observing and measuring how the metal and rock are mixed helps scientists determine how Psyche formed. Exploring asteroids may also provide valuable insight into how our own planet and others formed.  The Psyche team uses a magnetometer to measure the asteroid's magnetic field. The multispectral imager captures surface images as well as data on Psyche's composition and topography. A spectrometer analyzes the neutrons and gamma rays coming from the surface to reveal the elements that make up the asteroid itself. The illustrations were created by Peter Rubin.  View or download full resolution versions from NASA's Photo Journal. Added: 03-29-2021 Credit: Peter Rubin

Little is known about Asteroid Psyche, but it is set to change

Photo by Peter Rubin/NASA

Small planetary bodies will be a major focus of space exploration in 2023. With the launch of two flagship missions, one to a moon of Jupiter and the other to a strange metallic asteroid, we are poised to solve much of the mystery surrounding how these tiny planets form. increase. It was formed and is what it is today. This discovery should lead to a more general understanding of habitability in our solar system.

The first mission is Jupiter Icy…

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