Artistic concept of the asteroid 16 Psyche. Image credit: Maxar/ASU/P.Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech 
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Psyche was discovered on March 17, 1852 by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. He named the asteroid in honor of Psyche, the Greek goddess of the soul, who was born mortal and married Eros (the Roman Cupid), the god of love.
The scientific interest of the asteroid Psyche lies in the fact that it is probably rich in metals. It may be composed largely of metal from the core of a planetesimal, one of the basic components of the Sun’s planetary system.
Psyche has the irregular shape of a potato. If it were cut in half horizontally at the equator (imagine a flattened oval), At its widest point it would be 280 kilometers in diameter and 232 kilometers long. Its area is 165,800 square kilometers.
Until recently, the scientific consensus was that the asteroid was mostly metal. The latest data suggests that it is probably a mixture of metal and silicate. the same material as glass and sand.
Check out a new podcast episode “Small Steps, Giant Leaps” on Psyche.
The mission will explore and photograph a metal world between Mars and Jupiter asteroids #Psyche16. It measures the magnetic field, composition and tests a @NASALaserComm Experiment.
https://t.co/9veSMxtUC7 pic.twitter.com/eZFXJFZWtO
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) March 13, 2021
A multimillion-dollar island between Mars and Jupiter
Previous studies suggest that Psyche probably consists of a mixture of rock and metal, with metal making up between 30 and 60% of its volume. The composition was determined through radar observations and measurements of the asteroid’s thermal inertia (the rate at which an object absorbs or radiates heat).
By combining optical and radar observations, scientists created a 3D model of Psyche that shows the presence of two crater-like depressions. This suggests that there are significant differences in the asteroid’s metal content and surface color. But until NASA’s Psyche mission sees the asteroid up close for the first time, we won’t know what it really looks like.
Scientists believe it could be composed significant amounts of metal from the core of a planetesimal, one of the basic components of our solar system. The asteroid likely survived several violent collisions, which are common during the formation of the solar system. It could therefore tell us how the Earth’s core and the cores of other rocky or terrestrial planets were formed.
Psyche orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter, at a distance between 378 million and 497 million kilometers from the Sun. This corresponds to 2.5 to 3.3 astronomical units (1 AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun). Psyche takes about five Earth years to complete one orbit around the sun. but it takes just over four hours to rotate once on its axis (a Psyche “day”).
analysis
This fascinating asteroid is now the main target of NASA’s Psyche mission. The space probe, also called Psyche, will be launched on October 5, 2023 and will fly to the asteroid using solar electric propulsion (low thrust). after a flyby of Mars to support gravity.
Once the probe reaches the asteroid, it will conduct scientific operations from four intermediate orbits, mapping and studying Psyche using its advanced scientific instruments. The main goal is to determine whether Psyche is actually the core of a planetesimal.
The mission
Psyche is the name of the asteroid that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. and the name of a NASA space mission to visit that asteroid led by Arizona State University.
The mission was selected by NASA on January 4, 2017, as one of two missions in the agency’s Discovery program, a series of relatively low-cost missions to targets in the solar system.
The scientific goals of the Psyche mission are to understand the fundamental elements of planet formation and to explore first-hand a completely new and unexplored type of world.
The mission team tries to determine whether Psyche is remnants of the core, how old she is, whether it formed under conditions similar to those in the Earth’s core and what its surface looks like.
Artistic concept of the Psyche mission. Image credit: NASA/JPL.
The Psyche spacecraft and its solar panels are about the size of a tennis court. The spacecraft’s body is slightly larger than a small truck and almost as tall as a basketball hoop.
The Psyche probe will carry state-of-the-art instruments, listed below:
- Multispectral Imager: It will provide high-resolution images and use filters to distinguish between metallic and silicate components.
- Gamma ray and neutron spectrometer: It will detect, measure and map the asteroid’s elemental composition.
- Magnetometer: Designed to detect and measure the asteroid’s residual magnetic field.
- Radio science: It will use the X-band radio telecommunications system to measure the gravitational field with high precision, providing information about Psyche’s internal structure.
- Optical Communications in Space (DSOC): sophisticated new laser communications technology that encodes data into photons. Its use allows spacecraft to communicate more data in less time.
If 16 Psyche is confirmed to consist of the estimated amount of metals, it’s probably worth $10 trillion, which will undoubtedly attract the attention of many capitalist nations.