(NASA / JPL)
NASA announced the successful completion of all tests of the Psyche spaceship, planned to go into space in August.
The ship is completely ready for launch, and it should reach the asteroid Psyche in 2026.
Asteroid Psyche is one of the most interesting bodies for research in the Main Belt, which was observed only with the help of ground-based telescopes.
This is the largest representative of metallic asteroids, which may be the core of a protoplanet or its fragment, formed in the early solar system.
Scientists want to determine both the physical properties of Psyche and its surface morphology and internal structure, which could be sponge-like.
Researchers also want to know the metals in the asteroid in terms of mining in space.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The Psyche payload consists of a multispectral camera, a magnetometer, a gamma and neutron spectrometer, and a microwave instrument.
In addition, the ship is equipped with xenon Hall thrusters and an experimental DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) laser communication system.
In December last year, NASA JPL launched comprehensive tests of the already assembled ship, which included electromagnetic, vibration, thermal vacuum shock and acoustic tests.
Now, NASA has announced their successful completion and that the station is fully ready for launch.
It is expected that the launch of the station into space will take place in early August this year, and it will reach the asteroid in 2026. The scientific program is designed for 21 months.
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