Hi everybody, welcome back to the show.
Today we're going to be delving into one of the most ambitious
space missions ever undertaken. In less than 80 days, NASA and
SpaceX will join forces to launch the Psyche spacecraft on
a journey that spans 2.5 billion miles.
Now this voyage aims to explore the mystery is of an asteroid
nestled within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,
known as 16 Psyche. This asteroid, unlike any other,
is made-up largely of iron and nickel, leading to estimates of
its worth reaching an incredible 10,000 quadrillion dollars.
But monetary value aside, 16 Psyche presents an unparalleled
opportunity for us to study a world that may closely resemble
the iron core of Earth. Today, we're going to be diving
deep into the fascinating details of this mission.
Examining the tireless work of NASA and SpaceX as they prepare
for this Monumentus launch. Will be discussing the
technologies involved in exploring the scientific and
potential. Will be discussing the
technologies involved in exploring the scientific and
potential economic implication. Our journey will take us from
the Space Launch Complex 39, a site at Kennedy Space Center,
all the way to the heart of the asteroid belt.
We'll reveal how Psyche the spacecraft will utilize solar
electric propulsion to traverse the vast cosmic expanse and how
it will help scientists unlock the secrets of the metal rich
asteroid Psyche over a 26 month research period.
And we'll get right into that after this quick break from our
sponsors. So stick with us.
We'll be right back in under 80 days.
History will be made as NASA. And SpaceX partnered to launch a
solar powered spacecraft on a voyage that will span 2.5
billion miles. This journey is into the heart
of our solar system, and it'll propel humanity further into the
cosmos than ever before to the main asteroid belt situated
between Mars and Jupiter. Now what's the purpose of this
mission, though? It's to lay bare the mysteries
of an enigmatic asteroid designated 16 Psyche.
The metallic composition of 16 Psyche, chiefly iron and nickel,
has been the source of much speculation and excitement, and
estimates pegged the potential worth of this asteroid at an
astronomical 10,000 quadrillion dollars.
That's a figure that could revolutionize economies and
industry as we know them. But beyond the material riches
lies an ever more significant treasure, a unique opportunity
for planetary scientists to study an iron core that looks
like. And could be like the center of
our own Earth Now this mission will expand our understanding of
these iron cores and may well unveil an entirely new class of
metal worlds in our solar system.
Now, NASA has recently provided an online update regarding the
mission, revealing that a team of around 30 dedicated engineers
and technicians working tirelessly to ready the
spacecraft, dubbed Psyche, in accordance with its asteroid
target. Now, as per the schedule, Psyche
will be launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket blasting off
from Space Complex 39 a Kennedy Space Center, Thursday, October
5th, 2023 at 10:38 AM Eastern Time.
Now, this launch window remains open until Wednesday, October
25th, 2023, offering multiple opportunities for a successful
liftoff, although Falcon Heavy has been typically utilized to
launch heavy satellites. Psyche marks its maiden
interplanetary launch milestone for the vehicle.
Our focus has shifted to safely completing the final mechanical
closeout of the spacecraft and preparing the team for
operations at Henry Stone, Psyche's project manager at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, they
said. We are counting down the days to
the launch and following Earth's gravity escape, the Psyche
spacecraft will utilize solar electric propulsion.
To accomplish its six year journey to asteroid Psyche now
asteroid Psyche, measuring approximately 173 miles at its
widest point, presents an extraordinary opportunity to
examine a metal rich celestial body.
Scientists hypothesize that the asteroid might be a remnant core
of a planetisimal in early planet's building block, and
once Psyche reaches the asteroid, it'll spend no less
than 26 months orbiting it. Gathering in valuable images and
other data to illuminate its composition and its history.
And before this can occur, though, the assembly, testing
and launch operations phase needs to be completed by the
team of engineers and technicians.
And after wrapping up several weeks of functional testing of
the science instruments and spacecraft hardware and
software, the team is set to finalize the spacecraft
preparations. Now these final stages include
removing the remaining testing cables.
Reinstalling previously removed exterior panels for
accessibility and completing the thermal blanketing later this
month, the team will integrate and test the deployment of the
immense solar arrays. By mid August.
The slow and careful progress of loading all 2392 pounds of
propellant, the neutral gas xenon, will commence.
Now. Louis Dominguez, the systems and
electrical lead for assembly, test and launch operations
express confidence in the progress made thus far stating.
We are moving forward and we're confident that when we're on the
pad, we'll be ready to hit the button.
The Psyche mission is a product of numerous collaborators.
Arizona State University leads the endeavor.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of
Caltech in Pasadena, takes on the roles of overall management,
system engineering, integration testing and mission operations.
Max, our technologies in Palo Alto, CA supplied the high power
solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis.
Now, the spacecraft will also carry a technology demonstration
instrument, the Deep Space Optical Communications.
This tool will be used to test high data rate laser
communications that could potentially be employed by
future NASA missions. Psyche is the 14th mission
selected as part of NASA's Discovery program, overseen by
the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL,
and as humanity edges closer to this groundbreaking launch.
We're getting excited. Everyone's getting excited about
it. It's going to be one of the most
monumental launches in the history of humankind.
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