At the very centre of the Earth is a core of metal—so hot and so deep down as to be unreachable and impossible to study directly. But we might learn more about it and the cores of other Earth-like planets by studying the asteroid Psyche. Based on observations made through telescopes, it is believed to consist of 60 per cent metal—probably an iron and nickel alloy. Looking a bit like a potato and measuring about 150x250 km, Psyche may be the innermost core of a planet that—following a violent collision with another object—was stripped of its outer crust.
Today, NASA is scheduled to send a mission to Psyche. It will be NASA's fourteenth Discovery Program mission. Preparations started in 2017 with launch planned for 2022, but due to the corona pandemic, NASA was unable to complete the necessary testing in time. There are relatively few times of the year when the spacecraft's voyage fits with the position of the planets.
On board the spacecraft will be three scientific instruments: an advanced imager for mapping and surface surveys, a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer that can measure what substances the asteroid consists of, and a magnetometer. The magnetometer has been built at DTU.
"We were invited to participate because our magnetometer has proven its unique ability to measure a very wide and extremely accurate magnetic field during several different space missions. In 2020, we began collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which heads the Psyche Magnetometry Investigation. And in 2021, we were the first to deliver a finished scientific instrument for the spacecraft, which is being built at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena," explains José M.G. Merayo, a professor at DTU Space, co-investigator, and member of the Psyche mission's scientific team.
