NASA Psyche Asteroid Mission: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket on Launch Pad

NASA Psyche Asteroid Mission: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket on Launch Pad

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft onboard is seen at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Psyche mission, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will travel to a metal-rich asteroid by the same name orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter to study its composition. The spacecraft also carries the agency's Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, which will test laser communications beyond the Moon. 

Destination: Only the 16th asteroid to be discovered, Psyche was found in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, who named it for the goddess of the soul in ancient Greek mythology. It has a mean diameter of approximately 220 kilometers (140 mi) and contains about one percent of the mass of the asteroid belt.

What gives asteroid Psyche great scientific interest is that it is likely rich in metal. It may consist largely of metal from the core of a planetesimal, one of the building blocks of the Sun’s planetary system. At Psyche scientists will explore, for the first time ever, a world made not of rock or ice, but rich in metal.

The spacecraft is expected to begin orbiting the asteroid Psyche in 2029.

Arizona State University leads the Psyche mission. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Maxar is providing the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. 

For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to: www.nasa.gov/psyche and psyche.asu.edu

Image Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Image Date: Oct. 11, 2023

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