USA: The Psyche mission from NASA will now launch in October. The Psyche 16 asteroid, which is unique and rich in metals and is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is the target of the space probe's construction. The launch of the mission was supposed to occur between August and October 2022, but it was postponed because the flight software and testing equipment for the spacecraft were not delivered on schedule.

The "first-ever exploration of a world made largely of metal" will take place on the Psyche mission. The Psyche 16 asteroid, which is made of metal and not rock or ice, will be examined by the space probe. Before this, NASA's Galileo mission sent a spacecraft past an asteroid for the first time. In 1991 and 1993, it passed by the asteroids Gaspara and Ida.

There was not enough time to finish the testing in time for the 2022 launch date due to the delay in supplying the software and testing tools. The Psyche spacecraft is planned to achieve a Mars gravity assist in 2026 and is anticipated to reach its target asteroid in August 2029, assuming everything goes according to plan following the launch this year.

Also Read: Microsoft opens new Windows 11 preview build for Insiders

What makes the Psyche mission crucial? For starters, it will shed light on previously unexplored iron cores, the fundamental components of planet formation. Even though terrestrial planets like Earth have metallic cores, they are out of our reach. In contrast, Psyche will provide details about the history of collisions and accretion that produced terrestrial life.

The Psyche spacecraft will conduct science operations from four staging orbits, which are orbits made at steadily decreasing altitudes above the asteroid's surface, after it successfully reaches its target asteroid in 2029. The spacecraft will gather data on the topography, elemental mapping, gravity science, and characterization of the asteroid during these orbits.

Also Read:  WhatsApp will support migration of Android-to-Android chats without Google Drive

In order to communicate with Earth, the mission will also test a brand-new laser communication technology that uses photons with near-infrared wavelengths to encode data. The spacecraft will be able to transmit more data in a given amount of time by using light rather than radio waves.

While NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is in charge of the mission's overall management, system engineering, integration, and test, Arizona State University is in charge of the Psyche mission.

Also Read:  YouTube is promoting initiatives to launch a hub of ad-supported TV channels

As one of two missions for the Discovery Program, a series of relatively inexpensive missions to choose targets in the solar system, this mission was chosen by NASA in 2017.