NASA will send the Psyche probe into space in the autumn to study a metallic asteroid of the same name, 450 million km from Earth, which could be the nucleus of an unformed planet

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 07.06.2023, 17:33

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to send the Psyche probe into space. It will be used to study the asteroid of the same name hundreds of millions of kilometres from our planet.

Here's What We Know

NASA wanted to launch the space probe last year. The launch window was open from August 1 to October 11. However, the agency postponed the mission because of software incompatibility with the testbed simulator.

NASA specialists fixed the problem, but were unable to fit into the launch window. As a result, the mission will launch in October this year.

The metallic asteroid is 450 million km away from our planet. Psyche will reach its target at the end of the summer of 2029. The probe will fly around the space body for 26 months. Scientists believe that the asteroid is the core of a planet that failed to form.

Source: NASA