Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Already more than 82 million miles (132 million kilometers) from Earth, the Psyche spacecraft will arrive at its destination – the asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – in 2029. Scientists believe the asteroid could be part of the iron-rich interior of an early planetary building block that was stripped of its outer rocky shell as it repeatedly collided with other large bodies during the early formation of the solar system.
After Psyche launched in October, the team tested all the spacecraft's science instruments to make sure they were working as intended. When the team powered on the magnetometer, an instrument that will provide crucial data to help determine how the asteroid formed, they received an unexpected gift: The instrument detected a coronal mass ejection, or a solar eruption where the Sun expels large quantities of magnetized plasma.
While this type of solar eruption is a relatively common occurrence, the team didn't expect to see such a detection in Psyche's data. Why is this good news? Data collected so far confirms that the magnetometer can precisely detect very small magnetic fields. It also confirms that the spacecraft is magnetically "quiet," meaning that while electrical currents powering a spacecraft of this size and complexity have the potential to generate magnetic fields that could interfere with science detections, they don't seem to be interrupting observations so far. It's all looking good for Psyche!
Since the initial detection, the team has seen several of these events and will continue to monitor space weather as the spacecraft travels to its target asteroid.
#NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #MissionToPsyche #Psyche #Asteroid #MetalWorld #Magnetometer #SpaceInstruments #Spacecraft #PlanetFormation
Already more than 82 million miles (132 million kilometers) from Earth, the Psyche spacecraft will arrive at its destination – the asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – in 2029. Scientists believe the asteroid could be part of the iron-rich interior of an early planetary building block that was stripped of its outer rocky shell as it repeatedly collided with other large bodies during the early formation of the solar system.
After Psyche launched in October, the team tested all the spacecraft's science instruments to make sure they were working as intended. When the team powered on the magnetometer, an instrument that will provide crucial data to help determine how the asteroid formed, they received an unexpected gift: The instrument detected a coronal mass ejection, or a solar eruption where the Sun expels large quantities of magnetized plasma.
While this type of solar eruption is a relatively common occurrence, the team didn't expect to see such a detection in Psyche's data. Why is this good news? Data collected so far confirms that the magnetometer can precisely detect very small magnetic fields. It also confirms that the spacecraft is magnetically "quiet," meaning that while electrical currents powering a spacecraft of this size and complexity have the potential to generate magnetic fields that could interfere with science detections, they don't seem to be interrupting observations so far. It's all looking good for Psyche!
Since the initial detection, the team has seen several of these events and will continue to monitor space weather as the spacecraft travels to its target asteroid.
#NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #MissionToPsyche #Psyche #Asteroid #MetalWorld #Magnetometer #SpaceInstruments #Spacecraft #PlanetFormation
