La Jornada: The Psyche spacecraft flies over Mars towards a metallic asteroid

Cape Canaveral. A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metallic asteroid will pass by Mars this week for a gravitational boost, snapping thousands of photos as practice for the main encounter in 2029.

baptized Psychelike the asteroid it is looking for, the robotic explorer will propel itself as it passes by the side of the red planet today at a speed of 19,848 kilometers per hour.

It will be an especially close flyby, since Psyche It will pass less than 4,500 kilometers from Mars, a distance equivalent to that between the east and west coasts of the United States. Then it will head at full speed towards the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where its attractive target is located.

All of the spacecraft’s scientific instruments will be turned on during the Mars passage. The two NASA rovers, along with a small fleet of US and European orbiters, will make observations of the surface and atmosphere simultaneously for comparison.

The cameras of Psyche They are already photographing Mars, which appears as a crescent during approach and as an almost complete sphere once it is in the rearview mirror. The different views will do double duty: They will allow operators to fine-tune their instruments while also providing “simply beautiful photos,” Jim Bell of Arizona State University, leader of the imaging team, said in a statement.

Although the asteroid belt is filled with millions of objects, most are made of rock or ice. Only a small percentage is believed to be rich in metals such as Psychea potato-shaped asteroid approximately 278 kilometers long by 232 kilometers wide.

Scientists suspect the asteroid could be the exposed iron-nickel core of a fledgling planet stripped bare by cosmic collisions. Studying such an object up close can provide information about the dawn of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago, and about why and how Earth gave rise to life.

Launched in 2023, the spacecraft is halfway through its six-year indirect journey toward Psycheon the outer limits of the asteroid belt, at a distance from the Sun three times that of the Earth. It should arrive in 2029, entering orbit around the asteroid for two years of study. The van-sized craft is powered by solar electric propulsion and uses xenon gas thrusters.