探索富含金属的小行星普赛克

Set to launch next year, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will explore a metal-rich asteroid of the same name in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

A major component of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has been delivered to the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the phase known as assembly, test, and launch operations is now underway. Over the next year, the spacecraft will finish assembly and undergo rigorous checkout and testing before it’s shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for an August 2022 launch to the main asteroid belt.

This illustration depicts the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, which is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

美国国家航空航天局(NASA)将于明年发射普赛克(Psyche)宇宙飞船，探测火星和木星之间的主小行星带中富含金属的一颗同名小行星。

美国国家航空航天局普赛克宇宙飞船的一个主要部件已经交付给该局位于南加州的喷气推进实验室，目前正在那里进行组装、测试和发射操作。在接下来的一年里，飞船将完成组装，并进行严格的检查和测试，然后被运送到佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角，并于2022年8月发射到主小行星带。

这幅插图描绘了富含金属的小行星普赛克，它位于火星和木星之间的主要小行星带。

图片来源：NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU