Featured Image Credit: JPL-Caltech/CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Space, NASA, Science, Technology
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Space, NASA, Science, Technology
Scientists have given an update on NASA's journey to explore a $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 asteroid.
On October 13, 2023, the space agency began its one-of-a-kind mission to the largest M-type asteroid ever discovered.
NASA launched a spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center to learn more about the phenomenon, named Psyche 16, which is thought to be made up of 30 to 60 percent metal.
The asteroid has an estimated surface area of 64,000 square miles (165,800 square km) and is composed of precious - and lucrative - metals, including gold, iron and nickel.
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It's so valuable, it could hypothetically make everyone on Earth a billionaire.
But 16 Psyche is set to take another five years to reach, as it's located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, some 2.2 billion miles away (3.5 billion km).
Exactly how the enormous asteroid formed has left scientists baffled, with the discovery of water on the rock complicating matters.
While 16 Psyche's origin remains a mystery, NASA's mission marks an incredible moment in space science.
In a new video, the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory team reflect back on the historical milestones the 16 Psyche mission has already met.
Firstly, the team was surprised by how soon they began received data from the spacecraft, also dubbed Psyche.
After a 'perfect' separation from its launch vehicle, systems engineer Kristina Hogstrom admitted: "We thought it could be hours before we heard from the spacecraft."
But signal from Psyche came through as soon as its radios were turned on, even while its solar arrays - which help power the spacecraft - booted up.
Hogstrom said this 'really confirmed' that everything was working well.
The mission also marks the first time 'hall thrusters' have been used outside of orbiting the moon, principal investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton explained.
As per NASA, the thrusters work by 'turning xenon gas, a neutral gas used in car headlights and plasma TVs, into xenon ions.'
As the xenon ions are accelerated out of the thruster, they 'create the thrust that will propel the spacecraft'.
They could now play a major role in supporting future missions to deep space.
Meanwhile, the spacecraft's laser communication technology was also praised, as chief engineer David Oh spoke of another huge milestone: "I think we've downloaded data now at 260 megabits per second (Mbps) - way, way faster than anything that’s been downloaded from space before."
For context, 250 Mbps allows us mere mortals on Earth enough bandwidth to enjoy lag-free gaming and buffer-free HD video streaming.
More ground-breaking takeaways are still expected from the mission, especially when Psyche flies over Mars in spring 2026.
Haley Bates-Tarasewicz, payload systems engineer, explained: "I want to see what we can do with the instruments or what the instruments can tell us about Mars.
"And that'll be the first time that we fill the field of view of the cameras with something illuminated. So, I think that that'll be a really exciting moment."