The 16 Psyche was discovered over a hundred years ago and this is an asteroid that is actually very unusual for our solar system. This is one of the most massive asteroids in the asteroid belt which is located somewhere between 2.9 and 3.3 astronomical units.
That is so unusual that NASA is funding a seven-year mission to visit the asteroid with a robotic spacecraft and study it in detail. Now NASA has selected two missions to explore the early solar system, which is known as Lucy and Psyche.
This is an opportunity to explore a new type of world not only rock or ice but of metal said Psyche Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton report by Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and this is the only way humans will ever visit a core.
Psyche is an asteroid found between Mars and Jupiter. It is thought to be the core of an early planet. Planets were built up over time as bodies collided in the early solar system. But with Psyche, the outer rock stripped off, leaving the core.
The information shared by ABC News is that the $450-million mission announced by NASA in January. Psyche, also a robotic mission, is targeted to launch in October of 2023. NASA will send a solar-electric propelled craft to study 16 Psyche in progressively smaller orbits. But it will not touch down.
The craft will be loaded up with instruments to analyze the asteroid inside and out. Magnetometers will determine whether 16 Psyche has the magnetic field which would expect of a planetary core Professor Elkins-Tanton explained. Cameras will capture what is expected to be a unique surface topography.
Another interesting point is Spectrometers on the spacecraft will confirm exactly what elements make up the asteroid by analyzing the gamma rays and neutrons it emits. Recently scientists have found that silicate rock makes up the 10 percent of 16 Psyche's surface. NASA experts said that this mission should deliver a glimpse into the early days of o solar system, insights into the process of planet formation, and pictures of a world unlike any other.
