NASA&s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid.Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world.

Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet&s core, and could shed light on the inaccessible centers of Earth and other rocky planets, Associated Press.SpaceX launched the spacecraft into an overcast midmorning sky from NASA&s Kennedy Space Center.

Named for the asteroid it&s chasing, Psyche should reach the huge, potato-shaped object in 2029.An hour later, the spacecraft separated successfully from the rocket&s upper stage and floated away, drawing applause from ground controllers.After decades of visiting faraway worlds of rock, ice and gas, NASA is psyched to pursue one coated in metal.

Of the nine or so metal-rich asteroids discovered so far, Psyche is the biggest, orbiting the sun in the outer portion of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter alongside millions of other space rocks.

It was discovered in 1852 and named after Greek mythology&s captivating goddess of the soul.&It&s long been humans& dream to go to the metal core of our Earth.

I mean, ask Jules Verne,& lead scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University said ahead of the launch.&The pressure is too high.

The temperature is too high.

The technology is impossible,& she said.

&But there&s one way in our solar system that we can look at a metal core and that is by going to this asteroid.&Astronomers know from radar and other observations that the asteroid is big — about 232 kilometers across at its widest and 280 kilometers long.

They believe it&s brimming with iron, nickel and other metals, and quite possibly silicates, with a dull, predominantly gray surface likely covered with fine metal grains from cosmic impacts.The post NASA spacecraft launched to mysterious metal asteroid first appeared on Ariana News.