Space
Psyche Mission: NASA Wants To Send Spaceship To Unique ‘Metal World’
Sam D
First Posted: Nov 21, 2016 04:50 AM EST
NASA scientists reportedly want to visit a metal world created by a massive planetary collision in space. The unique world is actually an enormous asteroid called 16 Psyche, and its unusualness has piqued the interest of the scientific community.
One of the main reasons why NASA wants to study the asteroid is to detect and measure its magnetism, which may hold secrets to how our planet was formed. Scientists hope that investigating Psyche would enable them to understand more about Earth's iron-nickel core, as well as the formation of other planets, because the exploration will give a chance to understand more about Earth's metal core, which is located too deep to be reachable.
Furthermore, as per Linda Elkins-Tanton, director of Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, every celestial object that has been explored by humanity so far has always had a surface of gas, rock or ice. This is the first time a world made of metal, i.e., iron or nickel, will be explored, which makes it really alien territory.
According to The Times, Benjamin Weiss said that "Psyche is by far the largest metal object in the solar system." He is a professor of Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Psyche would be the first and only metal world to be visited by humanity. This is true exploration," he added.
Psyche is supposedly the molten core of a planet that was once equal to the size of Mars. However, a series of powerful collisions stripped it of its rocky mantle, and the celestial object has now cooled down into a solid mass of nickel and iron. The asteroid is located between Mars and Jupiter, and with a 150 miles diameter, it is one of the largest and densest of its known kind.
Furthermore, Mail Online reported that last month researchers also revealed that they had discovered possible evidence for water on Psyche's surface. The space agency will take its final decision about the mission in the next few weeks. If the vote is in favor of visiting the metallic world, then a spaceship can be launched by 2020 with an aim to reach Psyche by 2026.
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First Posted: Nov 21, 2016 04:50 AM EST
NASA scientists reportedly want to visit a metal world created by a massive planetary collision in space. The unique world is actually an enormous asteroid called 16 Psyche, and its unusualness has piqued the interest of the scientific community.
One of the main reasons why NASA wants to study the asteroid is to detect and measure its magnetism, which may hold secrets to how our planet was formed. Scientists hope that investigating Psyche would enable them to understand more about Earth's iron-nickel core, as well as the formation of other planets, because the exploration will give a chance to understand more about Earth's metal core, which is located too deep to be reachable.
Furthermore, as per Linda Elkins-Tanton, director of Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration, every celestial object that has been explored by humanity so far has always had a surface of gas, rock or ice. This is the first time a world made of metal, i.e., iron or nickel, will be explored, which makes it really alien territory.
According to The Times, Benjamin Weiss said that "Psyche is by far the largest metal object in the solar system." He is a professor of Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Psyche would be the first and only metal world to be visited by humanity. This is true exploration," he added.
Psyche is supposedly the molten core of a planet that was once equal to the size of Mars. However, a series of powerful collisions stripped it of its rocky mantle, and the celestial object has now cooled down into a solid mass of nickel and iron. The asteroid is located between Mars and Jupiter, and with a 150 miles diameter, it is one of the largest and densest of its known kind.
Furthermore, Mail Online reported that last month researchers also revealed that they had discovered possible evidence for water on Psyche's surface. The space agency will take its final decision about the mission in the next few weeks. If the vote is in favor of visiting the metallic world, then a spaceship can be launched by 2020 with an aim to reach Psyche by 2026.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone