NASA scientists successfully launched the Psyche Spacecraft on Friday. The craft is bound for a distant asteroid of the same name and will arrive by 2029.
The Dallas Express previously reported that NASA was preparing to launch the craft on October 12. The space agency later said that unfavorable weather would delay the launch to the following day.
NASA announced that the craft launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:19 a.m. on October 13. The craft was also equipped with NASA’s experimental Deep Space Optical Communications, the agency’s demonstration of laser communication technology that may be used in future endeavors.
“Launching with Psyche is an ideal platform to demonstrate NASA’s optical communications goal to get high-bandwidth data into deep space,” said Dr. Prasun Desai, acting associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in a press release.
“It’s exciting to know that, in a few short weeks, Deep Space Optical Communications will begin sending data back to Earth to test this critical capability for the future of space exploration. The insights we learn will help us advance these innovative new technologies and, ultimately, pursue bolder goals in space.”
Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, congratulated ground teams on the successful launch.
“The Psyche mission could provide humanity with new information about planet formation while testing technology that can be used on future NASA missions,” said Nelson. “As Asteroid Autumn continues, so does NASA’s commitment to exploring the unknown and inspiring the world through discovery.”
Psyche will travel a distance of about 2.2 billion miles over the course of its six-year journey to the Psyche asteroid located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Upon its arrival at the asteroid in August 2029, the craft will begin to orbit the rocky body before conducting a 26-month-long investigation of the supposedly metal-rich object.
“I am excited to see the treasure trove of science Psyche will unlock as NASA’s first mission to a metal world,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By studying asteroid Psyche, we hope to better understand our universe and our place in it, especially regarding the mysterious and impossible-to-reach metal core of our own home planet, Earth.”
