![]() ![]() Soon after, it will deploy its twin solar arrays, one at a time, and direct them at the Sun. The spacecraft will then separate from the upper stage about an hour after launch. Once the rocket is out of Earth’s atmosphere, about four minutes after launch, the fairing will separate from its ride and split into two halves, which are jettisoned back to Earth. Then the second stage of the rocket, which will help Psyche escape Earth’s gravity, will fire its engine. After the side boosters separate and return to land, the core stage will be expended into the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket has two stages and two side boosters. The tech demo will not relay Psyche mission data. ![]() DSOC will test high-data-rate laser communications – which could be used by future NASA missions – beyond the Moon for the first time. Integrated onto the spacecraft is a technology demonstration called Deep Space Optical Communications ( DSOC). The spacecraft and fairing have been mated to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy, which is poised for takeoff from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A. Loaded with 2,392 pounds (1,085 kilograms) of the neutral gas xenon – the propellant that will get Psyche to the asteroid belt – the spacecraft sits inside the launch vehicle’s cone-shaped payload fairing, which protects it from aerodynamic pressure and heat during launch. All systems have been tested and re-tested many times, along with the payload of three science instruments. The orbiter’s solar arrays are folded and stowed for launch. We look forward to the launch and – more importantly – to accomplishing the mission’s objectives, marking yet another historic voyage of scientific discovery.” “All spacecraft systems, science instruments, and software have been integrated and extensively tested, and the spacecraft is fully configured for flight. “The team has worked tirelessly to prepare the spacecraft for its journey to a one-of-a-kind asteroid,” said Henry Stone, Psyche’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Each opportunity is instantaneous, meaning there is only one exact time per day when launch can occur. 13, with additional opportunities identified each day through Oct. With its sights set on a mysterious asteroid of the same name, Psyche is NASA’s first scientific mission to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. In less than 24 hours, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is slated to launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |