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For the first time ever, a NASA probe is set to journey to an object composed not of rock, ice, or gas, but metal: the
Psyche's solar arrays convert light into electricity, providing the power for its four solar electric or"Hall-effect" thrusters. These use electromagnetic fields to accelerate and expel ions of xenon, the same inert gas used in car headlights and plasma TVs. Left: xenon plasma emits a blue glow from an electric Hall thruster identical to those that will propel NASA's Psyche spacecraft. Right: a similar non-operating thruster. (With deep space missions demanding higher and higher data rates, NASA is turning to laser-based systems to complement radio-frequency based communications.Abi Biswas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory – enabling the transmission of higher resolution images, more science data, and streaming video.
But the science team will also use Psyche's trusty old radio system to probe the asteroid's gravity field using the Doppler Effect.
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