French novelist Jules Verne delighted 19th-century readers with his captivating tale of a journey to the center of the Earth, sparking the imagination of many. Unfortunately, scientists quickly dismissed Verne’s story as pure science fiction. After all, the extreme temperatures and crushing pressure in the Earth’s interior render such a journey impossible. However, limited knowledge does exist about our planet’s deep interior, thanks to indirect discoveries made by geophysicists through the study of Earth’s magnetic field and seismic activity. Despite these insights, there is still a great deal to unravel about our planet’s mysterious core. In light of this, planetary scientists are turning their gaze towards outer space with the hope of gaining further insight into the Earth’s inner depths.
NASA’s upcoming robotic mission, Psyche, is scheduled for liftoff on October 5, 2023. This ambitious venture will explore a metallic asteroid also known as Psyche. With asteroids serving as remnants from the early stages of our Solar System, they intrigue scientists who study planetary formation. While most asteroids are composed of rock and ice, approximately 20 percent are believed to be metal-rich and share similarities with the Earth’s core. These metallic asteroids are tantalizing fragments that may offer scientists a direct glimpse into the nature of planetary cores.
Psyche, the largest-known metallic asteroid discovered in 1852, boasts dimensions comparable to the state of Massachusetts. Its peculiar shape resembles a squashed spherical pincushion, and it occupies an orbit between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. Despite being observable with a backyard telescope as a mere point of light, Psyche has captured the attention of scientists worldwide. In early 2017, NASA approved the billion-dollar mission to explore Psyche. The spacecraft will not land on the asteroid’s surface; instead, it will repetitively orbit Psyche, meticulously investigating its geology, topography, gravity, and magnetic field. By comparing the asteroid’s composition to our existing understanding of Earth’s core, scientists hope to determine if Psyche genuinely represents an exposed planetary core.
Throughout its 26-month mission beginning in August 2029, the Psyche probe will diligently study the asteroid. One of the central questions the mission aims to answer is whether Psyche is indeed a planetary core. Scientists seek to decipher whether the asteroid is a monolithic bedrock boulder, a cluster of smaller boulders, or an enigmatic entity yet to be defined. Moreover, they hope to uncover potential clues suggesting that the former outer layers of this small world, such as the crust and mantle, were violently stripped away eons ago. Ultimately, the mission’s most critical inquiry revolves around the possibility of extrapolating the knowledge acquired from Psyche to solve some of the Earth’s core mysteries.
Equipped with solar panels broader than a tennis court, the Psyche probe’s body is approximately the size and mass of a large SUV. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the spacecraft into space, with ion propulsion facilitating its subsequent journey. Ionized xenon gas escaping through a nozzle will continuously and economically propel the probe through the Solar System. Covering a 2.5 billion-mile (4 billion km) spiral trajectory, including a gravity-assist flyby near Mars, the expedition will endure for nearly six years. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and Arizona State University in Tempe will maintain regular contact with the spacecraft using the Deep Space Network’s vast radio antennas.
Even if Psyche turns out not to be an ancient planetary core, the information gathered during the mission will undoubtedly enrich our comprehension of the solar system’s intricacies and planetary formation. The uniqueness of Psyche, unexplored by humankind until now, provides an unparalleled opportunity for scientific discovery. Although we may not yet fathom a direct journey to the Earth’s core, robotic avatars like Psyche enable us to unlock the mysteries concealed deep within planets, including our own.
While Jules Verne’s depiction of a journey to the Earth’s core may be pure fiction, the Psyche mission presents a groundbreaking opportunity for scientists to enhance their understanding of planetary cores. By venturing into outer space and exploring a metallic asteroid, scientists aspire to glean direct insights into the nature of planetary cores and, potentially, unravel some of the Earth’s core mysteries. As we embark on this interstellar endeavor, our quest to comprehend the secrets of the universe takes another giant leap forward.
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