Psyche, Discovery Mission 14 - a visit to the metallic asteroid, 16 Psyche |
Psyche, Discovery Mission 14 - a visit to the metallic asteroid, 16 Psyche |
Jan 4 2017, 08:24 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 71 Joined: 12-December 16 Member No.: 8089 |
#psychedforpsyche! Psyche has been selected by NASA as the 14th Discovery program mission, after Lucy. The mission aims to send a spacecraft in orbit around the M-type asteroid 16 Psyche, a metallic world theorized to be the exposed iron core of a former protoplanet the size of Mars. The spacecraft will launch in October 2023, with planned gravity assists of Earth in 2024 and Mars in 2025. It will arrive at 16 Psyche in 2030. The mission is led by the Arizona State University and Principal investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton.
Be sure to check out the new subreddit, r/psychemission, as well! |
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Jan 31 2017, 09:28 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 71 Joined: 12-December 16 Member No.: 8089 |
Thoughts on the official mission insignia? It looks very pretty in my opinion! I can't help but notice that they snuck in the colours of ASU into the insignia as well!
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Mar 15 2017, 05:19 AM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Nothing of any importance, but I thought it would be nice to take a look at Psyche at least once before the mission… I guess there's time to look at it a lot of times before then. Truth be told, I just pointed my telescope at the right place, took 3 pictures, then found it in the imagery after the fact. I never saw it with my eye, at least not knowing that I was seeing it.
The fact that it (identified with the cross hairs) is about fourth in brightness in a rather small and random portion of the sky gives you some idea for how unassuming Psyche is. It's currently magnitude 10.6 and the brighter star near it is magnitude 8.2. But the interest here is obviously in its unique composition, not size. |
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