NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Activates Futuristic Thrusters for Asteroid Mission
TL;DR
NASA's Psyche spacecraft, launched on October 13, 2023, has activated its ion thrusters and is now cruising through space using solar-electric propulsion. The mission aims to reach the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche by 2029, after a gravity assist from Mars in 2026. The spacecraft is also testing new deep-space optical communications technology and gathering scientific data en route.
Topics:sciencespace-exploration#asteroid-16-psyche#ion-thrusters#nasa#psyche-mission#solar-electric-propulsion#space-exploration
- Asteroid-bound Psyche spacecraft fires up ion thrusters, starts cruising through space Space.com
- NASA's Psyche mission fires up its futuristic electric engines The Verge
- Nasa probe racing to ‘golden asteroid’ Psyche ‘worth $10,000-quadrillion’ using sci-fi blue 84,000mph elect... The Sun
- NASA's Psyche fires up its sci-fi-worthy thrusters Phys.org
- NASA switches on futuristic Hall engines at Psyche station — now the spacecraft is moving at 133.2 thousand ITC
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