Psyche asteroid - Euro Watch 360

The launch of NASA's Psyche asteroid mission has been delayed until 10:19 a.m. EDT (1419 GMT) on Friday (Oct. 13), to account for inclement weather that's barreling in from the Gulf of Mexico. Psyche, NASA's probe to explore a metal asteroid of the same name, was scheduled to launch on Thursday morning (Oct. 12) on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Pad 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. However, during a prelaunch press briefing on Wednesday (Oct. 11) , bleak predictions for the next morning’s forecast left only a 20% chance of favorable weather conditions. As Wednesday night’s storms blew in, the decision was made to forgo Thursday’s launch attempt to capitalize on the better weather predicted for launch windows on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 14). Arlena Moses, launch weathe...

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are utilizing advanced telescopes to conduct infrared observations of the asteroid Psyche, offering valuable insights for NASA's upcoming Psyche mission. Dr. Stephanie Jarmak is utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to search for water signatures on Psyche's metallic surface, while Dr. Anicia Arredondo is analyzing some of the last data collected by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to examine variations in Psyche's composition across its surface. Psyche is a substantial asteroid with a diameter of approximately 140 miles, making it one of the largest objects in the main asteroid belt situated between Mars and Jupiter. Previous observations have indicated that Psyche is a dense, predominantly metallic o...

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Bad Weather Delays SpaceX’s Psyche Mission to October 13

Researchers Utilize Webb and SOFIA Telescopes to Study Metallic Asteroid