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there aren't

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many classes of objects left in our

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solar system that we haven't looked at

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up close with a spacecraft and one of

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them that's left is the metal asteroids

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16 psyche is an asteroid that orbits the

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sun out between mars and jupiter the

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reason that psyche is unique is that it

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is metal-rich it's believed that it may

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be a remnant core of an early

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planetesimal that was formed in the very

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very earliest parts of the formation of

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the solar system and after this planet

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started forming and this metal core

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formed inside of that it collided with

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other bodies that then stripped off the

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rocky mantle leaving this core in place

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this is the part of planets that we

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can't sample directly today it's too hot

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the pressure's too high our instruments

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would melt can't drill a hole that deep

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in the earth or other planets so how do

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we study the core

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of our planet psyche gives us the

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opportunity to visit a core the only way

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that humankind can ever do and it would

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be the first metal object that humankind

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has ever visited

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[Music]

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we've been approved to go in august of

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2022.

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it'll take a number of years to get

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there flies past mars gives us a gravity

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assist uses that propulsion system to

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then slowly creep up

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so at the end of 2025 getting there in

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early 2026.

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[Music]

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we'll go into four concentrically

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smaller orbits to collect the necessary

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measurements that we need from our three

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primary instruments so our payload

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consists of a couple of imagers which

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are cameras that take pictures of psyche

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also a gamma-ray neutron spectrometer

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which allows us to measure the elemental

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composition of the surface of psyche and

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then a magnetometer which will allow us

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to detect any magnetic field that's left

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at psyche if psyche still has some sort

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of remnant magnetic field that that

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probably tells us it really was a core

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it's a strong indicator we also use the

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radio on the spacecraft as an instrument

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so we can map out the gravity and map

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out the interior structure that way

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we're using a particular thruster

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technology hall effect thruster

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technology they operate five times more

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efficiently than normal rockets so they

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use a lot less fuel and is what allows

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us to get into orbit around this

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asteroid solar electric propulsion has

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been around for quite a while and it has

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flown before but we are continuing to

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push the boundaries we're going to have

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big five panel fold-out solar panels

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that will provide the electricity for

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the thrusters

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which use as propellant

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the noble gas xenon this will be the

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first time that hall effect thrusters

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are flown in deep space

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[Music]

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studying the evolution of a planetary

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body is a detective story

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there's a magic to when you actually are

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on the launch pad and you say we're go

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for launch and you feel like singing and

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dancing and you feel like throwing up at

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the same time let's go discover things

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about our solar system that we have no

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other way to do

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i think that it's fundamental to who we

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are and also who we should be it's an

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incredible opportunity to be a part of