Psyche, an asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter, is made almost entirely of nickel-iron metal. As such, it offers a unique look into the violent collisions that created Earth and the terrestrial planets.
The Psyche Mission to this asteroid is in NASA's Planetary Science Division’s Discovery Program. The Psyche Mission’s principal investigator, Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University, narrates this video.
The ASU-led Mission to Psyche is targeted to launch in August 2022, arriving in 2026. After arrival, the mission plan calls for 21 months orbiting the asteroid, mapping it and studying its properties.
The mission is led by Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. The spacecraft’s solar-electric propulsion chassis will be built by SSL.