The American space agency NASA is preparing to launch a spacecraft designed to observe an asteroid made mostly of metal. The launch of the vehicle, called Psyche, is set for October 12 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft will fly to an asteroid also called Psyche. It orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter. NASA says the asteroid was discovered by an Italian astronomer in 1852. Since it was the 16th asteroid discovered, it is sometimes also called 16 Psyche. Psyche will be NASA’s first trip, or mission, to an asteroid that contains a large amount of metal. Past missions explored asteroids made mostly of rock or ice. Astronomers say the asteroid Psyche is about 280 kilometers at its widest point. They believe it may be part of a center, or core, of a planetesimal. This is an object thought to be the metallic remains of an early rocky planet. Scientists think Psyche is made up mostly of iron and nickel, similar to Earth’s center.
