NASA Gives Status Update On Mission To Capture Asteroid Worth...

Source: Found here

Last year, the space agency announced that it was going to set off for the faraway asteroid named 16 Psyche , which is thought to contain precious metals, including gold, iron and nickel, worth an eye-watering amount.

⁘Teams of engineers and technicians are working almost around the clock to ensure the orbiter is ready to journey 2.5 billion miles to a metal-rich asteroid that may tell us more about planetary cores and how planets form,⁘ NASA said in a statement released in July 2023.

The spacecraft was then launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 13, 2023.

The vessel has been travelling a journey of 2.2 billion miles (3.5 billion km) at a speed of approximately 84,000mph through space and is expected to reach the asteroid in August 2029.

In the latest update, the spacecraft is now in 'full cruise' mode and will use what NASA calls its 'sci-fi-worthy' thrusters to expel xenon ions.

NASA explains: ⁘For the next year, the spacecraft will be in what mission planners call 'full cruise' mode, when its electric thrusters take over and propel the orbiter toward the asteroid belt.

⁘The thrusters work by expelling charged atoms, or ions, of xenon, emitting a brilliant blue glow that trails behind the spacecraft.⁘

As the ions are expelled, they will create a thrust that over time will allow the spacecraft to accelerate to up to 124,000mph.

Once it gets to the asteroid, the spacecraft will spend two years orbiting the rocky formation, gathering important data.