NASA: instead of an expedition to Venus, we will send two probes to the asteroid belt



    The NASA agency receives quite significant funding from the state. In fact, this organization receives more money than any other space agency in the world. But space exploration is expensive, so even NASA has to choose. This week, agency management announced their choice: two upcoming missions to study asteroids of various classes. The missions were called "Psyche" and "Lucy."

    Both missions have similar features - their goal is the study of asteroids. But two different classes of these celestial bodies will be studied. It is also worth saying that their study will begin no earlier than 2020, possibly later. Unfortunately, NASA had to abandon three other missions in favor of those that were chosen. The first two "refuseniks" are the study of Venus (atmosphere and surface). And another is the creation of the NEOCAM tool, which would help scientists detect asteroids that threaten the Earth. According to experts from NASA, the study of asteroids will help to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system.

    “These missions will help us understand what the birth of the solar system represented was only 10 million years away from the appearance of the sun itself,” said Jim Green, a NASA spokesman.

    Psyche




    Here we are talking about a mission that starts in 2023. The purpose of this mission is to send an automatic probe to an asteroid located in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is called Psyche 16. The diameter of the asteroid is 210 km, so this asteroid is one of the ten largest objects in the asteroid belt. And this is a very interesting object to study, since it consists mainly of iron and nickel. Scientists believe that this object could very well have been the core of a planet the size of Mars. But the outer crust for some reason was lost by this planet and only the core remains. Perhaps the reason is the sequence, a series of very strong collisions with large objects.

    In order to reach the asteroid, the device will need about six years. The facility is located at 3 AU from the sun. After approaching the asteroid, the device will spend about a year mapping its surface and studying various properties. Scientists do not know exactly what they can detect on an asteroid, since a person has never studied the metal worlds, it was only about asteroids and comets, consisting of ice and rock. Specialists hope to find answers to questions about the origin and properties of our planet. According to scientists, the metal core is not only the Earth. Similar cores have Mars, Venus and Mercury.

    The probe will be equipped with a number of scientific instruments, including magnetometers, spectrometers, a gamma ray detector, and a neutron spectrometer. It is planned to conduct several experiments that will help to understand what this celestial body is. Over time, after a year, the probe will descend in a spiral orbit lower and lower to the surface of the asteroid. The maximum approach is 105.5 km. This will allow us to study in detail the surface structure of Psyche 16. Astronomers will try during the time allotted for the probe to understand how the formation of planets occurs, and what the core of the planet can be.

    Lucy




    The second mission is scheduled for 2021. Its purpose is to study the so-called Trojan asteroids. Trojan asteroids - a group of asteroids located in the vicinity of the Lagrange points L4 and L5 in the 1: 1 orbital resonance of any planets. The first asteroids of this type were discovered in Jupiter. These asteroids are named after the characters of the Trojan War described in Homer's Iliad.

    Asteroids will be studied with the help of another probe, which will arrive in the small belt of asteroids by 2025. After that, he must fly around five Trojan asteroids at once. This phase of the mission will continue from 2027 to 2033. Scientists know almost nothing about those objects that are in that region of the solar system.

    “This is a unique opportunity. Since the Trojan asteroids are the source material from which the outer planets were formed, they will be able to clarify some questions regarding the origin and evolution of the solar system, ” said Harold F. Levinson, chief scientific adviser to Lucy’s mission.

    During flying around its targets, the probe will study the color, surface structure and geology of asteroids. These data will help to figure out how giant planets were formed, as well as when and why they entered their current orbits. The device will also be engaged in the search for primary organic compounds on the surface of asteroids.

    The Lucy probe will be equipped with a number of technical elements that are part of the New Horizons probe platform.. Let me remind you that this device successfully reached Pluto in 2015. In particular, Lucy will be equipped with updated RALPH and LORRY tools. Why was the mission and the probe itself called “Lucy”? Because it was called so primacy, Afar Australopithecus , considered an ancestor of man. Lucy was once found by Richard Leakey, a reputable anthropologist and paleontologist.

    And a little about the mundane


    Yes, about the money. Both missions will cost NASA (therefore, US taxpayers) $ 400- $ 500 million US dollars. This is not too much, since the creation and launch of the Curiosity rover cost $ 1 billion, not to mention the New Frontier missions, including New Horizons.

    But this money will not be wasted - thanks to them, humanity will be able to get a huge amount of information about the structure and origin of various objects of the solar system. Perhaps in the end, all this will help to figure out how our system and our planet were formed.

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