Today, NASA plans to launch its main interplanetary mission in 2023. We are talking about Psyche, which has a long journey to the Main Asteroid Belt.
We have already talked in some detail about the main objectives of the mission and the technical mechanism of this spacecraft. Briefly recall that Psyche will study Psyche: one of the largest and most massive asteroids containing a large amount of metals. According to one hypothesis, it is a fragment of the core of a protoplanet that collapsed shortly after the formation of the Solar System.
A Falcon Heavy rocket will be used to launch Psyche. Its side boosters should return and land at Cape Canaveral, the central unit is used in a one-time version. Previously, Falcon Heavy only once took cargo into interplanetary space. This happened during its debut flight in February 2018, when a rocket sent a Tesla Roadster car to Mars.
A live broadcast of the launch will be conducted on the NASA website, as well as on Youtube. At the moment, it should take place on October 13 at 5:19 p.m. GMT+3. At the same time, so far the weather conditions in the launch area leave much to be desired. According to forecasters, the probability of favorable weather at this time is only 40%.
The next window for launching Psyche will open on October 14 at 5:24 p.m. GMT+3. So far, forecasters give a 70% chance of good weather at this time. If the rocket fails to launch again, NASA will have the opportunity to send it into space in the next launch windows. They will be open every day until October 25.
It will take Psyche six years to reach its goal. If everything goes according to plan, the spacecraft will reach Psyche in August 2029.
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