National Observatory researchers create ‘bridge’ in space
As part of NASA’s Psyche mission, researchers from the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) have created a 300-million-kilometer-long communication “bridge” in space.
In what is hailed as a significant achievement for the Greek scientific community and the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS), the two telescopes in the Peloponnese, at Helmos (photo) and Kryoneri are the only ones chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to participate in the flagship mission. ESA announced on December 19 that the IAASARS is participating as a key partner in the Psyche mission, which started on October 13 and is on its way to the asteroid 16 Psyche, somewhere between Mars and Jupiter.
The mission aims to study the composition and characteristics of the asteroid, which is rich in metals. This will also provide valuable information about the creation of our solar system, as asteroids are the rocky remnants of material leftover from its formation approximately 4.6 billion years ago. At the same time, potential threats to our planet are also recorded.
