Scientists suggest NASA explore a giant metal asteroid

On Habré already reported on the new program of research of asteroids , which is included in the budget of NASA. The program involves sending unmanned robotic vehicles to asteroids and studying them on site or delivering to a stable orbit around the Earth. A group of scientists offers NASA a goal to study in the first place: it is Psyche, a very strange metal asteroid.

With a diameter of 250 km, the Psyche asteroid is one of the largest in the Solar System. It is assumed that it contains the iron core of the protoplanet, the stone layer of which was destroyed as a result of collisions. It must have a strong magnetic field.


')
Psyche is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, with an orbit of 2.5-3.3 AU from the Sun.



The asteroid is almost entirely made of iron. The mission will provide rare information about the early stage of the formation of the solar system and will allow to study such an unusual and strange object. "This is the only object that consists only of the nucleus in the entire solar system," says Lindy Elkins-Tanton, director of the department of terrestrial magnetism at the Carnegie Institute, one of the initiators of the proposal to study Psyche.

“We know a lot about stone and ice bodies, but what about metal? - asks Elkins-Tanton. “What does the surface of the metal world look like?” It can be assumed that it is covered with molten craters from collisions with other asteroids.



Scientists propose to send a research apparatus to Psyche, which will enter its orbit and will explore the surface of the asteroid for 6 months, taking photographs, measuring the magnetic field, gravity and other characteristics of the celestial body.

Specialists have been working on the technical description of the mission for a year and a half already and are going to publish it as part of the next review of projects of the Discovery class, which is scheduled to be announced in 2015. The Discovery class assumes low-cost missions with a maximum budget of $ 425 million. If the project is approved, the launch of the device can be prepared very quickly, scientists say, because all the necessary technologies have already been developed for this. There is even a completely suitable probe Dawn , created for the study of asteroids.