A NASA spacecraft named Psyche is set to swing past Mars this week as it receives a gravity boost on its long journey toward a rare metal-rich asteroid. The flyby is part of a mission en route to the asteroid Psyche, which the probe is expected to reach in 2029, after a six-year journey.
The spacecraft will pass within about 2,800 miles of Mars while travelling at more than 12,000 mph, capturing thousands of images and activating all its scientific instruments during the encounter, News.Az reports, citing PBS News. The close approach will allow the mission team to test equipment while also gathering comparative data alongside NASA’s Mars rovers and orbiters. Scientists say the asteroid target may be the exposed core of a protoplanet, offering clues about the early formation of the solar system.
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。