Psyche

Psyche is Still Sending Data Home at Broadband Speeds

When I heard about this I felt an amused twinge of envy. Over the last year I have been using an unimpressive 4G broadband service and at best get 20 Mbps, NASA’s Psyche mission has STILL been getting 23 Mbps at 225 million km away! It’s all thanks to the prototype optical transmission system employed …

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Falcon Heavy launches NASA’s Psyche asteroid probe

Falcon Heavy climbs away from Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now. Getting off to a ground-shaking start, NASA’s $1.2 billion Psyche asteroid probe roared into space atop a Falcon Heavy rocket Friday, setting off on a 2.2-billion-mile voyage to a rare, metal-rich asteroid that may hold clues about how the …

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Weather remains watch item for launching NASA’s billion-dollar mission to asteroid Psyche

The eighth Falcon Heavy to fly was raised to launch configuration overnight on Wednesday as it prepares to send the Psyche spacecraft off to the asteroid of the same name as early as Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Image: Adam Bernstein With the exception of the weather, NASA and SpaceX said at a prelaunch news conference …

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Simple settings tweak should save Psyche asteroid mission from overheating thrusters

An artist’s conception of the Psyche spacecraft orbiting near the surface of the Psyche asteroid. Image: Maxar/ASU/Peter Rubin. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, now scheduled for launch on Oct. 12, will dial down the power of its maneuvering system after engineers discovered its thrusters were in danger of overheating during its eight-year expedition to explore a metallic …

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Live Coverage: SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Friday

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for launch tonight on another mission to deliver satellites into orbit for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned for 6:39 p.m. EDT (2239 UTC). It’s shaping up to be a busy night for SpaceX teams on the Florida Space …

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