A NASA mission will send a robotic probe to the main asteroid belt to study one of the strangest objects in the solar system, a giant metal asteroid called 16 Psyche.
One Of A Kind Asteroid
Psyche is an irregularly shaped asteroid measuring about 130 miles (210 kilometers) in diameter, which orbits the sun at a distance of between 3.3 and 2.5 astronomical units. It is one of the largest known asteroids.
It is also one of the most massive objects in the asteroid belt containing a little less than 1 percent of the total mass of the entire asteroid belt. It was discovered by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis in March 1852 and was named after the Greek mythological figure Psyche.
The object is a one-of-a-kind in the solar system because unlike most asteroids that have rocky and icy bodies, 16 Psyche is primarily composed of pure nickel-iron.
Currently the most massive known M-type (metallic) asteroid, the body is composed of 90 percent iron and nickel and 10 percent silicate rock, which is similar to the Earth's core. Just like Earth's nickel-iron core, which produces a massive magnetic field around our planet, Psyche is believed to also generate a magnetic field that is possibly nearly as strong as that of the Earth.
Possibly A Core Of A Planetary Body
Scientists suspect that 16 Psyche could be the core of a planetary body whose outer layers were blasted off by violent collisions billions of years ago. Astronomers said that 16 Psyche is the only core-like object in the entire solar system.
Scientists are keen on studying this strange body because it offers an opportunity to learn more about the interiors and layers of planets and other bodies such as moons, whose cores lie beneath miles of rock.
"We know a lot about stony and icy bodies, but what about metal ones?" Psyche Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton, from Arizona State University, said. "What does the surface of a metal world look like?"
NASA Psyche Mission
In just a few years, scientists would finally be able to study Psyche more thoroughly as a robotic probe would gather data from this strange world in close proximity.
On Jan. 5, NASA announced that along with sending a robotic mission that would visit Jupiter trojan asteroids, the space agency will also send a robotic probe to visit 16 Psyche.
The mission is targeted for launch in October 2023, and the probe is expected to arrive at the asteroid seven years later by 2030 following an Earth-gravity assist spacecraft maneuver in 2024 and a flyby on planet Mars in 2025.
Scientists said that the mission that would explore an odd asteroid that is neither a rock nor ice offers learning opportunities for scientists.
"This is an opportunity to explore a new type of world — not one of rock or ice, but of metal," said Elkins-Tanton. "16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and this is the only way humans will ever visit a core. We learn about inner space by visiting outer space."
