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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: TV NASA Psyche Mission - Villafane
HEAD: New NASA Spacecraft Nearly Ready for Asteroid Mission
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 4/29/2022 at 9AM
BYLINE: Verónica Villafañe
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Pasadena, California
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS: (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
SCRIPT EDITORS: KE(1st); MAS
TRT: 2:35
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
UPDATE:))
((INTRO))
[[After years of preparation and testing, a new NASA spacecraft is almost ready for its mission to an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists hope the journey will uncover clues into the origins of Earth. For VOA, Villafañe visited NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California to see the spacecraft and speak with mission investigators.
((NATS))
((NARRATOR))
In this clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers are putting the final touches on the Psyche spacecraft.
If all goes as planned, it will become the first spacecraft to orbit a metal-rich asteroid, and, scientists hope, also uncover clues into the origins of earth.
The asteroid, named Psyche, is located between Mars and Juniper, about 2.4 billion kilometers away from Earth.
NASA is responsible for the overall management of the mission, led by Arizona State University.
((Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche Mission Lead Investigator))
“This is such an exciting moment. What you see behind me here is a spacecraft that is fully functional, working beautifully, ready to be integrated into a rocket and launched. And getting to this point has taken 11 years.”
((NARRATOR))
The spacecraft has undergone rigorous testing. Its mission is to map and study the asteroid’s age and properties.
Experts say Psyche appears to be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, a key building block of the solar system.
((María de Soria, Psyche Engineer)) ((IN SPANISH))
"The hypothesis is that this is the core of a planet that due to collisions with other bodies, tore off the crust and left it exposed so that we can explore it."
((NARRATOR))
María de Soria is Psyche’s Payload Systems Engineer.
((María de Soria, Lead Payload Systems Engineer)) ((IN SPANISH))
“Studying Psyche, we will be able to better understand how it was formed, its origins. And that will also allow us to understand the origin of our own Earth and the solar system.”
((NARRATOR))
That's because scientists believe the Earth’s core is similar. But since we cannot see or measure the Earth’s core directly, the Psyche mission could provide important insights into the formation of our solar system and other rocky planets like Mercury, Venus and Mars.
((Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Psyche Lead Investigator))
“We're always asking ourselves what makes a planet habitable? Why is it possible for life to be on it? And the asteroids are really the eggs and the flour and the butter that went into making the cake that is the planet Earth. And what we think we're going to find in Psyche is a part of those ingredients that humans have never seen before. We want to go find another of the ingredients that goes into making a rocky planet that life can live on.”
((NARRATOR))
The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in August from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will fly past Mars to reach asteroid Psyche. The journey is expected to take about three and a half years. Once it arrives, it will orbit the asteroid over the span of 21 months.
The Psyche mission will also test new laser communication technology that will allow the transmission of more data faster between a deep space probe and Earth.
((Verónica Villafañe, for VOA News, Pasadena, California.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Pasadena, California
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
