NASA's Psyche Mission: Visiting a metal asteroid (Pre-Mission)

2023 Psyche spacecraft illustration. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Launch Date: October 13, 2023

Launch Site: Launch Complex 39A, Cape Canaveral Florida, United States

Launch Vehicle: Falcon Heavy

Mission Type: Orbiter

Target: Psyche

Dimensions: 4.9 Meters, by 2.2 Meters, by 2.4 Meters

Mass: 2747 Kilograms

You can build your own Psyche Spacecraft out of LEGO here.

Psyche is NASA's first mission to visit a metallic (M-type) asteroid. 16 Psyche is one of the larger asteroids in the belt, and by far the largest metallic one. Only around 38 other metallic asteroids are known to date, and they are all much smaller.

The Mission

The Psyche mission was first proposed in September 2015, and was officially selected on January 4, 2017, along with the Lucy spacecraft. After a few years of Construction, delays, and near cancellation, Psyche will hopefully launch sometime between October 5-25 this year. If the launch goes according to plan, Psyche will use its four Hall-Effect ion thrusters to begin its journey to asteroid 16 Psyche (both the spacecraft and the asteroid have the same name, so the asteroid will aways have its numerical designation present to avoid confusion).

Psyche was originally targeting a launch in October of 2023. This was later moved to August 2022 to take advantage of a more efficient trajectory. The spacecraft would also launch with the Janus cubesats, which would investigate binary asteroids. Unfortunately, Psyche's software wasn't ready in time for the more efficient launch date, and was moved back to October 2023. The Janus cubesats missed their launch opportunity, and are in storage for the indeterminent future.

Psyche was going to launch on October 5, but due to engine heating issues, this was delayed to the 12. Then NASA delayed the launch again to October 13 due to unfavourable weather.

Psyche will do a Mars gravity assist before making it to 16 Psyche. Once there, Psyche will have four different orbital phases as it maps the assymetrical gravitational field of 16 Psyche.

Psyche mission plan. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Psyche's planned orbital operations. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Once in orbit, the spacecraft will take measurements of 16 Psyche's mass and density, as well as the magnetic and metallic properties of the asteroid. Psyche is also bringing along a new infrared communication laser, that's part of its secondary mission goals. The laser assembly is actually suspended in space with magnets, (while inside a cage), so vibrations from the spacecraft don't ruin its precision.

 Over the span of the mission, Psyche will lower its orbit to allow it to get high resolution data. Psyche is intended to orbit the asteroid for 3 years, but if its doing well, and still has fuel resurves, it will probably get a mission extension like NASA's Dawn spacecraft did at Ceres. Eventually the mission will end, and communications with the spacecraft will cease. Psyche will continue to orbit the asteroid for decades, or even centuries afterword.

The Target

16 Psyche topography map. Credit: Shepard et al. 2017

• Date Discovered: April 17, 1852
• Designation: 16 Psyche (A852 FA)
• Class: Main-Belt Asteroid
• Radius: 113 Kilometres
• Rotational Period: 4.2 Hours
• Orbital Period: 1825.95 Days (4.999 Years)

Several artist's illustrations of 16 Psyche by Peter Rubin can be found here (search "Peter Rubin"). They aren't very realistic, and are based on high velocity impact tests on metal plates (with lots of artistic license thrown in).