NASA is about to send its first-ever interplanetary spacecraft skywards on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The Psyche mission is also the first such mission to explore an asteroid suspected to be primarily comprised of metals other than iron and nickel.
Part of the agency’s low-cost Discovery Program, the $1.2 billion mission’s planned October 2022 launch was delayed in June 2022 due to the late delivery of the spacecraft’s flight software and testing equipment.
Here’s everything you need to know about NASA’s Psyche mission and exactly when, where and how to watch it launch this Thursday—and exactly what happens if the launch is delayed.
When The NASA Psyche Mission Will Launch
The Psyche mission is scheduled to launch at 10:16 a.m. EDT on Thursday, October 12, 2023, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will go from the center’s Launch Complex 39A atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Where To Watch The NASA Psyche Mission Launch
There are two choices of coverage for this launch—NASA TV or SpaceX’s official YouTube channel.
What Will Happen After The Launch
As SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches, its 27 engines will ignite to provide just over five million pounds of thrust. However, this isn’t just any old launch because Falcon Heavy has reusable rockets. “A little bit past two minutes the side boosters will separate and they will begin their descent to landing zone one and landing zone two at Cape Canaveral spaceport station,” said Serkan Bastug, mission manager, Launch Services Program, NASA Kennedy, in a press briefing.
That should be quite a site since both boosters will land in tandem. Although this will be the first flight of this vehicle’s center core, it will be the fourth flights for the side boosters.
The center core booster will separate about four minutes after launch—dropping into the ocean—followed by two burns by the second stage. “Exactly 62 minutes after liftoff the Psyche spacecraft will be on its way to its namesake destination,” said Bastug.
What Will Happen If The Launch Is Delayed
If weather delays the launch there are plenty of other opportunities. Its launch period runs from Thursday, October 5 through Wednesday, October 25. “The launch window for Psyche is 21 consecutive days with one instantaneous launch window each day beginning October 5,” said Bastug.
What Is Psyche?
It’s both an asteroid and a mission. Asteroid 16 Psyche is the most metallic object known. It hangs out in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The Psyche spacecraft will reach it in 2029, after a gravity assist from Mars in 2026, to orbit it, map it, examine its surface and probe its inner structure.
“We have visited bodies made of rock and bodies made of ice and gas,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator of Psyche, Arizona State University. “But what we have never seen before is a body with a largely metal surface.”
By studying these small bodies planetary scientists can learn about the origin and evolution of our solar system as well as the processes that are still at work today.
“Everyone here at the NASA Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is very excited to be a part of this incredible scientific mission,” said Bastug.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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