Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Psyche
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Psyche spacecraft
Read Next
Space race (1957-1969) infographic between United States (U.S.) and Russia. America, Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., space exploration
Timeline of the Space Race, 1957–69
New space race infographic between China, India, and Japan. Asian space race, space exploration
The New Space Race
The Space Shuttle Columbia soars from Launch Pad 39A on July 1 1997 to begin the 16-day STS-94 Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1) mission.
12 Questions About the History of Space Exploration Answered
1965) The Gemini-8 Astronauts David R. Scott and Neil A. Armstrong are suited up for water egress training aboard the NASA Motor Vessell Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico. Training for Gemini 8, Gemini-titan-8
50th Anniversary of Gemini 8
Discover
The Jeff Koons tulips sculputure outside the Guggenheim Museums in Bilbao, Spain, Basque Country.
What’s the Difference Between Modern and Contemporary Art?
Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time
Coriander leaves, fresh green cilantro on wooden background, herbs
Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap to Some People?
Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and autodidact.
6 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan
King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)
9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes
Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009
Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?
Scottish fold cat. A genetic mutation caused (in the original cat-1961) the ears to bend forward and down.
Shorthair Cat Breeds
Psyche spacecraft
Psyche spacecraft Artist's conception of the Psyche spacecraft in flight. Psyche will orbit the metal-rich asteroid of the same name beginning in August 2029.

Psyche

United States spacecraft
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/topic/Psyche-spacecraft
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written by
Erik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the University of Chicago Press on the...
Erik Gregersen
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History

Psyche, name of both a metal-rich asteroid and the U.S. spacecraft that is scheduled to orbit it beginning in August 2029. Psyche will be the first of the metal-rich asteroids to be explored by a spacecraft. The Psyche spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for 26 months.

Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis found Psyche, only the 16th asteroid to be discovered, in 1852. He named it after the princess in the mythological tale of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche lies in the main asteroid belt, whose orbital path around the Sun lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid’s size is 278 by 238 by 171 km (173 by 148 by 106 miles), and its density is 3.88 grams per cubic cm. Iron meteorites have a density of about 7.8 grams per cubic cm, so Psyche is probably not solid iron. The asteroid is very reflective in radar observations, so it does have large areas of metal on its surface. It is possible that, as it cooled after it was formed, Psyche had volcanic eruptions that covered its surface with areas of iron-nickel core material. The asteroid may even be a remnant of a forming planetary core and thus may allow scientists to study a core in more detail than can be done with the cores of fully formed terrestrial planets.

The Psyche spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 13, 2023, on board a Falcon Heavy rocket. In May 2026 it will make a flyby of Mars to get an assist from that planet’s gravity that will boost it to the asteroid Psyche. Once at Psyche, the spacecraft will divide its time among four different orbits, ranging from 709 km (441 miles) to 75 km (47 miles), above the asteroid’s surface.

The Psyche spacecraft is powered by Hall-effect thrusters, which accelerate the spacecraft by expelling xenon gas, and it is the first spacecraft to use such thrusters in deep space. Among the spacecraft’s instruments are cameras to study the asteroid’s surface, a gamma-ray and a neutron spectrometer to determine the asteroid’s composition, and a magnetometer to search for evidence of a magnetic field. By monitoring radio communications with Earth as the spacecraft orbits the asteroid, scientists will be able to measure the gravitational field of the asteroid and determine its internal structure. The spacecraft also has an experiment that will test communicating with Earth from deep space using a laser; the 5-meter (200-inch) Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego will receive the laser communications from Psyche.

Erik Gregersen