NASA's mission to asteroid 16 Psycheknown for its wealth of metals, has reached an important milestone as it navigates through the solar system: it has turned on its ion engines, solar electric propulsion that propels its progress. The launch of the spaceshipnamed Psyche, on October 13, 2023, provided the necessary initial boost to traverse more than 300 million kilometers of space, beyond the orbit of Mars.
The ion engines aboard Psyche have now assumed control of acceleration. They work by converting sunlight into electricity through solar panels that form the “wings” of the spacecraft. This electricity powers an electromagnetic field that propels and ejects ions from the xenon gas, creating a gentle thrust that builds up speed.
Currently, Psyche is traveling at 84,000 miles per hour, with the intention of reaching 124,000 miles per hour.
Although the force exerted by the ions is smallthis constant thrust is enough to increase the speed of the spacecraft in the vacuum of space. Psyche's ion engines are almost constantly running as it moves toward its destination, asteroid 16 Psyche, which it will orbit for at least two years.
This asteroid, 173 miles wide, is a fragment of the metallic core of an ancient planet, providing invaluable information about the formation of rocky planets like Earth.
During your trip, Psyche has been active collecting scientific data with various instruments, including a magnetometer and a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer. Additionally, he has tested a new deep-space optical communications technology, using lasers to transmit data over interplanetary distances, with promising results.
“Up to this point, we have been powering up and checking the various equipment needed to complete the mission, and we can report that it is working perfectly,” said Henry Stone, Psyche project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Psyche continues the tradition of missions to the asteroid belt using ion enginesdemonstrating that this technology, once relegated to science fiction, is now a scientific reality in the exploratory space.