NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is gearing up for its upcoming mission to a metal-rich asteroid also named Psyche, with a targeted launch date of October 5, 2023, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The spacecraft is equipped with folded solar arrays, loaded with xenon gas for its journey to the asteroid belt, and has successfully tested all four thrusters. Engineers have verified the readiness of the massive high-gain antenna for transmitting data, and the software is tested and operational. The mission will carry science instruments, including a multispectral imager, magnetometer, and gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, to investigate the asteroid Psyche.
NASA’s Psyche mission has a launch window that opens on October 5 and runs through October 25. The mission aims to explore the metal-rich asteroid Psyche to gain insights into how planets form.
Within two weeks, technicians will begin encapsulating the spacecraft in its payload fairing, and it will be transported to SpaceX facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The launch is scheduled to take place atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at 10:38 a.m. EDT on October 5.
Once it escapes Earth’s gravity, Psyche will employ solar electric propulsion for its six-year journey to the asteroid belt. The spacecraft will use charged xenon atoms expelled through its propulsion system to gently propel itself to the asteroid Psyche.
Psyche is about 173 miles (279 kilometers) wide and presents a unique opportunity to study a metal-rich celestial body that may be part of a planetary core. The spacecraft will spend approximately 26 months orbiting the asteroid, capturing images and data to provide insights into its history and composition.
The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University, with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) responsible for overall mission management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis.
Additionally, the mission will carry a technology demonstration called Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC), which aims to test high-data-rate laser communications for potential use in future NASA missions. JPL manages DSOC for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Space Communications and Navigation program.
