The Psyche mission marks the beginning of NASA’s use of the Falcon Heavy rocket for major science and exploration missions this decade. The Falcon Heavy flight is scheduled for October 13 and will take the Psyche mission to the metal asteroid of the same name
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is preparing to launch its first mission with NASA on October 13.
Falcon Heavy was flown to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission, scheduled for October 12. However, NASA and SpaceX delayed the launch by one day due to bad weather on the Space Coast. If all goes according to plan, Psyche will launch on October 13th.
Falcon Heavy consists of the first three stages of the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s flagship rocket. The central booster is mounted on top of the upper stage and cargo bay. It is the second most powerful rocket currently flying, after NASA’s SLS rocket. She has already made seven flights, the last of which was in July of this year. However, none of these missions were for NASA.
Falcon Heavy is preparing for its first launch for NASA this decade.
The two side boosters that will help launch NASA’s Psyche mission are experimental spacecraft, with traces of soot showing that they were part of three of the seven previous Falcon Heavy flights. Both side boosters are expected to successfully return to and land on landing pads in Florida shortly after launch. But the central accelerator will make its first and only flight. After participating in the launch of Psyche, he fell into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Psyche mission will conduct a detailed study of the metallic asteroid of the same name and provide key information about the early stages of the solar system and the process of planet formation. Astronomers speculate that the Psyche asteroid may be the exposed core of an ancient protoplanet.
The Psyche asteroid, with a diameter of 280 kilometers, is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Observations of Psyche are planned for 2029 when the probe will arrive at the object and study it from orbit for 26 months.
According to the latest forecasts, there is a 50% chance that the weather will allow the launch on October 13. Additional launch windows for Psyche will be available until October 25th.
