The Psyche spacecraft will launch in October 2023 on a mission to study the asteroid Psyche, an unusual metallic asteroid that is thought to be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet. The Psyche mission aims to understand planet formation by directly examining the interior of a differentiated body. When it arrives in 2029, the spacecraft will map and study Psyche using multispectral imaging, gamma-ray spectroscopy, magnetometers, and other instruments over a primary mission duration of 26 months. Insights from Psyche could reveal much about the formation of terrestrial planets like Earth and their cores.

1. Psyche:
A Trip to an Asteroid!
Nadia Abuisnaineh, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Content modified by Carole Holmberg
Image Credit: NASA

2. NASA’s Asteroid Autumn!
OSIRIS_REx
asteroid Bennu return
sample September 24th.
Psyche launch on
October 13th.
Lucy’s first
asteroid flyby on
November 1st.
Image Credit: NASA

3. What is Asteroid
16 Psyche?
• Discovered in 1852 by
Italian astronomer
Annibale de Gasparis.
• The number 16 denotes
that it is the 16th minor
planet in order of
discovery.
• The largest known
singular metal object in
the solar system.
• Orbits in the asteroid
belt, between Mars and
Jupiter.
Image Credit: NASA

4. Numbers!
• Diameter: 140 miles (if
shown as a perfect
sphere).
• Surface area: 64,000
square miles.
• Orbits the sun every 5
years.
• Rotates around its axis
every 4 hours.
• Apparent Mag: 9.22-
12.19
Image Credit: NASA

5. Psyche Makeup
Was assumed to
be mostly of
metal.
Recent data
suggests 30%-60%
of its volume is
metal.
Other elements are
either rock or
silicate (think sand
or glass).
The densest
known asteroid.
Image Credit: NASA

6. Why is 16 Psyche Special?
Image Credit: NASA

7. Image Credit: NASA

8. Image Credit: Arizona State University
Planetesimal to Planet

9. Psyche
mission
to
Psyche
Image Credit: NASA

10. Science Goals
• Understand a previously
unexplored building block of
planet formation: iron cores.
• Look inside terrestrial
planets, including Earth, by
directly examining the interior
of a differentiated body, which
otherwise could not be seen.
• Explore a new type of world.
For the first time, examine a
world made not of rock and ice,
but metal.
Image Credit: NASA

11. Science
Objectives
• Determine whether Psyche is a core,
or if it is unmelted material.
• Determine the relative ages of
regions of Psyche's surface.
• Determine whether small metal
bodies incorporate the same light
elements as are expected in the
Earth's high-pressure core.
• Determine whether Psyche was
formed under conditions more
oxidizing or more reducing than Earth's
core.
• Characterize Psyche's topography.
Image Credit: NASA

12. Mission
Timeline:
2015-2031
A. Concept Study
B. Preliminary Design
C. Critical Design and
Build
D. Instrument,
Spacecraft Build,
and Launch
E. Gravity Assist,
Arrival, and Orbit
F. Mission Closeout
Image Credit: NASA

13. The Spacecraft
Image Credit: NASA

14. Size:
• The body and solar
panels are about
the size of a singles
tennis court.
• The body is slightly
bigger than a small
van and the height
of a basketball
hoop.
Image Credit: NASA

15. Images Credit: NASA

16. Images Credit: NASA

17. Images Credit: NASA

18. Instruments:
1. Multispectral Imager
2. Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
3. Neutron Spectrometer
4. Magnetometer
5. X-band radio
telecommunications system
6. Deep Space Optical
Communication
Image Credit: NASA

19. The Launch
• Launch Period:
October 5-25, 2023
• Launch Location: Launch
Complex 39A, NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center,
Florida
• Riding in SpaceX’s Falcon
Heavy Rocket
• Arrival at Asteroid:
Mid-2029
• Primary Mission
Duration: 26 months at the
Psyche asteroid
Image Credit: NASA

20. Image Credit: NASA

21. Psyche’s
2.2 billion
mile flight
Image Credit: NASA

22. Questions?
Image Credit: NASA