"It’s a weird asteroid, which scientists love."
SpaceX’s powerhouse Falcon Heavy rocket has flown commercial satellites, secret Department of Defense payloads and Elon Musk’s Tesla roadster into space. Now NASA is banking on the rocket for the first time, aiming to send a probe named Psyche to an asteroid with the same name this week.
The rocket that has the power of three Falcon 9’s essentially strapped together first flew in 2019, sending Musk’s Tesla out to an orbit that took the car past Mars. That’s where the Psyche probe is headed as well. It’s set to lift off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A as early as 10:16 a.m. Thursday, although weather forecasts show only a 20% chance for good conditions. There are daily windows for launch until Oct. 23.
The $700 million satellite managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory aims to unlock the asteroid Psyche’s secrets, which scientists suspect is metal-rich. It resides in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Read more at the Orlando Sentinel