NASA’s First-Ever Journey to a Metal-Rich Asteroid Launching Soon!

NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft is days away from launch into a six-year cruise to a novel metal-rich asteroid

NASA is just days from launching a mission to a one-of-a-kind asteroid that may tell us how planets like our own Earth formed! Find out how your viewers can watch NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocket toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, on Oct.12^th.

The Psyche mission is a journey to an intriguing metal-rich asteroid - also named Psyche - that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. This asteroid is unique because it’s made of significant amounts of metal and may be the leftover core material from planetary building blocks. Scientists believe that far below the mantle and crusts of terrestrial planets like our Earth is a core made of metals like iron. We cannot see or directly measure Earth’s core, but Psyche could offer scientists a fascinating window into the early history of planets like our own.

Psyche launches Oct. 12^th from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It will travel for six years before arriving at the asteroid Psyche in 2029. Once there, it will spend 26 months in orbit mapping and studying Psyche’s properties in unprecedented detail.

Click here to find out more about the Psyche mission.
A live feed of the launch will be on NASA TV and on @NASA on social media.
* Click here for NASA’s Psyche Mission Media Reel

See the following sources:

• https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche
• https://www.nasa.gov/psyche