Last week SpaceX launched NASAs Psyche probe to the asteroid Psyche in a first of its kind mission. What exactly is Psyche and why is it important that NASA explores it? However, before we can answer those questions we need to take a look at how the project came to be and what lies ahead for the mission.

To get to where all of this started we need to go back a little over one hundred and fifty years ago to 1852 when Italian astronomer Annibale De Gasparis discovered asteroid 16-Psyche. Now fast forward to 2011 where ASU (Arizona State University) played around with the idea of the mission, then in 2015 it was selected by NASA to make its concept study. Throughout the next two and a half years it would undergo consideration from NASA and was eventually given the green light in early 2017.

So why exactly did NASA give this mission the green light to proceed with development? Well, the answer is quite simple. Asteroid 16 Psyche is a heavily iron rich asteroid which means it likely has the same composition of Earth’s core. The mission could help us gain a better understanding of Earth’s core and how it was formed as well as teach us about other planets cores.

What can Psyche do? To answer that, we need to look at the spacecraft itself and see what the instruments do. The spacecraft and solar panels were built by Maxar Technologies. The spacecraft’s size is around the size of a regulation tennis court, according to ASU’s Psyche website. The propulsion system on the spacecraft is especially interesting as it uses an electric propulsion system powered by the solar panels. One of the spacecrafts prime instruments is a Gamma-Ray Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS). What is that and why do they need it? According to NASA’s JPL, “The spacecraft will use the GRNS to study the neutrons and gamma rays coming from the asteroid’s surface to help determine its elemental composition.” Determining the asteroids composition is very important as the primary goal of the mission is to learn more about the earth’s core. The spacecraft also has a multispectral imager which will view different wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum. There will also be a magnetometer onboard to collect data on the asteroid’s magnetic field.

Now that we know what Psyche is, how it works, and how the mission came to be, let’s take a look at the future of the missions. The spacecraft launched on Friday, October 13th on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The launch seemed to go off without a hitch other than a scrub from the previous day. This, however, is somewhat untrue; though the actual launch went well, the spacecraft was originally slated to launch over a year ago. Unfortunately, an issue with the spacecraft’s software grounded it through their launch window, and delayed it to this window. The spacecraft is now currently on its 6 year journey to Asteroid 16-Psyche and will arrive in mid 2029. Before it gets to 16-Psyche, it will do a fly-by and gravity assist by Mars. Once the spacecraft gets to 16-Psyche, it will spend 26 months (just over 2 years) surveying the asteroid and collecting data and then transmitting that data back home using JPLs new laser transmitter.

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