2023-09-03 20:28:34
NASA is hoping to get a glimpse of the metal core hidden deep inside the Earth by sending a spacecraft to the asteroid 280 million miles away.
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Main problem
The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago when the dust and gas surrounding our Sun began to stick together. Initially, these materials were very hot, but as they cooled, denser materials settled at the center of the planet, eventually forming the Earth’s core.
Scientists believe that electric currents in the Earth’s hot metal core are responsible for a magnetic field planet, which plays a key role in our planet’s habitability by holding our atmosphere in place and deflecting the solar wind.
“If there were no magnetic field, we could be left with a completely different atmosphere without life as we know it,” said Eftikhia Zesta, head of the NASA Geospace Physics Laboratory.
“16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system.”
Given that the Earth is the only place in the universe where life as we know it exists, and its core is the key to that habitability, studying the Earth’s core could potentially help us figure out where to look for extraterrestrial life.
However, direct observations are not possible – the core starts at a depth of 2,900 km below the surface, and the farthest point that we drilled ( for now ), was only 12 km.
16 Psyche
Unable to directly observe the Earth’s core, NASA is taking the next best step by sending a spacecraft to study a giant metal asteroid that it believes could be the partial core of a “planetesimal,” a solid object that could form the basis of a planet.
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This asteroid, 16 Psyche, is located about 450 million km from us, and if you could bring it down to Earth, you would have a nickel on your hands. 10,000 quadrillion dollars (disregarding the fact that a sudden increase in supply will lead to lower prices for the metal). value falls sharply).
However, NASA does not plan mine 16 Psyche, just study her.
“This is an opportunity to explore a new type of world – not made of stone or ice, but made of metal.” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator for the Psyche mission, in 2017 when NASA authorized the project.
“16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and it’s the only way humans will ever be able to visit the core,” she continued. “We learn about inner space by visiting outer space.”
Expected that mission will begin with the launch of the Psyche spacecraft on October 5th. After completing a 4 billion km energy-saving path to the asteroid, the ship should arrive at its destination in 2026. It will then spend 26 months orbiting 16 Psyche from 4 different altitudes.
During this period, Psyche will use its toolkit to image the asteroid and measure its gravity, magnetic field and electromagnetic radiation – these measurements should help NASA determine if it is truly planetary. core .
“If Psyche still has some sort of residual magnetic field, that probably tells us it was indeed a core.” said Henry Stone, Psyche project manager.
looking ahead
NASA researchers are now in the final stages of preparation for the Psyche mission.
On August 3, they successfully tested and installed the spacecraft’s solar array, which, when fully deployed, is about the size of five parking spaces. Around the middle of August, they plan to start filling it with almost 1270 kg of xenon.
If all goes according to plan, SpaceX’s Psyche rocket could lift off as early as 10:38 a.m. ET on October 5, beginning the spacecraft’s long journey to (sort of) the center of the Earth.
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