YEAR OF PSYCHE

Compass
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🌌 Click to view a model comparing the sizes of the Earth, Mars, Moon, and Ceres to Psyche.

🌌 Click to view an animation showcasing the Psyche spacecraft from liftoff to its destination.

🌌 Click to view the orbital model.

WHY LEARN ABOUT PSYCHE?

Psyche is the name of an asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter and the name of a NASA space mission to visit that asteroid, led by ASU. Psyche is the first mission to a world likely made largely of metal rather than rock or ice. The science goals of the Psyche Mission are to understand these building blocks of planet formation and to explore first-hand a wholly new and unexplored type of world. The mission team seeks to determine whether Psyche is remnant core material, how old it is, whether it formed in conditions similar to the Earth’s core, and what its surface is like.

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TIME ON PSYCHE

A year on Psyche lasts about 5 Earth years (about 1,828 Earth days). This makes one Psyche year about 10,428 "days" long. A day on Psyche is about 4 hours and 12 minutes. You could live through just under 6 "days" on Psyche in the same time as one day on Earth!

When Were You Born on Earth?

WHY PSYCHE'S METAL MATTERS

Iron cores like our own play a central role in creating a magnetic field around the planet, which in turn holds in the atmosphere and may well be essential to make a planet habitable. They are also key to understanding how planets form after a star is forged and remaining dense gases and dust are kicked out to form a protoplanetary disk, where planets are assembled. The Earth’s core starts about 1,800 miles below the surface, and the cores of gas giants such as Jupiter are much further inward, and even their elemental makeups are not fully understood. All this helps explains why the upcoming NASA mission to the asteroid Psyche is being eagerly anticipated, especially by scientists who focus on planetary formation. Psyche differs from other planetary bodies in that the presence of metal — rather than silicates (rock) or ice or gases — tells the story of how the asteroid formed to how it responds to impacts. Other asteroids and meteorites that crash into a metal body form a unique crater pattern.

The Psyche Mission consists of six phases, labeled A–F. These phases span from initial studies and selection of the mission by NASA for its Discovery Program, through building and testing of instruments and the spacecraft, to launch, cruise, and arrival at the asteroid and finally to orbit and the closeout of the mission.
Scroll below to follow the journey of Psyche through the phases of the mission.

Phase F

Mission Closeout

Phase E

WE ARE HERE

Phase D

Jan 2021

Phase C

May 2019 - Jan 2021

Phase B

Jan 2017 - May 2019

Phase A

Sept 2015 - Dec 2016

Preliminary Design

  • Design and planning stages...
  • Key Decision Point C and approvals...
Psyche Spacecraft

After Maxar Technologies successfully installed Psyche’s High Gain Antenna, their team moved the Psyche Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis to the alignment stand at their factory in Palo Alto, CA.

Date Added: 03-12-2021

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Psyche Spacecraft Prepares for Transport

The Maxar team prepares the Psyche Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis for shipment to NASA’s JPL.

Date Added: 03-19-2021

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Psyche Spacecraft

The Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is mounted onto a rotation fixture in High Bay 1 of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. This photo was taken March 28, 2021, just after the chassis – a major component of the Psyche spacecraft – was delivered to JPL by Maxar Technologies.

Date Added: 03-29-2021

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Psyche Spacecraft: Main Body

Psyche’s SEP chassis is currently in main body integration in Maxar’s Palo Alto, Calif. manufacturing facility. The equipment panels have been mated to Psyche’s propulsion module and technicians will soon begin installing attitude control components.

Date Added: 12-01-2020

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Testing the Psyche Spacecraft

Psyche’s spacecraft body being tested at Maxar’s Palo Alto, California manufacturing facility.

Date Added: 04-16-2020

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Preparing Psyche’s Thruster Installation

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California prepare to integrate four Hall thrusters (beneath red protective covers) into the agency’s Psyche spacecraft in July 2021.

Date Added: 09-20-2021

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Psyche Gamma-Ray Spectrometer

The Psyche gamma-ray spectrometer uses a high-purified germanium crystal to capture gamma rays emitted by asteroid Psyche. These gamma rays can reveal what elements the surface is made of.

Date Added: 09-02-2021

Credit: Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Psyche Spacecraft: High Gain Antenna

Psyche’s high gain antenna has completed fabrication and is undergoing standard testing in Maxar’s Near Field Range to verify that it will work as intended once launched.

Date Added: 12-01-2020

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Integration of Part of Psyche’s Electric Propulsion Subsystem

A Maxar technician prepares to integrate part of Psyche’s electric propulsion subsystem.

Date Added: 04-16-2020

Credit: Maxar Technologies

Psyche Temperature vs. Earth Temperature

-220°F on Psyche 0°F on Earth

This is still pretty cold for Earth but it is only a standard day for Psyche. These temperatures would be around where the Sun barely hits the asteroid.

TEMPERATURE ON PSYCHE

The temperature on Psyche ranges from about -340°F (-210°C) to -100°F (-73°C). However, all information about the surface temperature is speculative, and will be confirmed by the satellite once it reaces Psyche.

Resources

Development Team

Vishal JeyamAmber MortonMagaret Pedro MilneJacob RoundCassie SmithLei Taylor

This work was created in partial fulfillment of The University of Arkansas Course “CSCE 49603″. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.asu.edu). “Psyche: A Journey to a Metal World” [Contract number NNM16AA09C] is part of the NASA Discovery Program mission to solar system targets. Trade names and trademarks of ASU and NASA are used in this work for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by Arizona State University or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ASU or NASA.