Mission to Psyche: One Year Into the Spacecraft’s Journey to a Metal-Rich Asteroid

One year after a successful launch on Oct. 13, 2023, team members on the Psyche mission to the metal-rich asteroid of the same name reflect on launch day, discuss mission operations and accomplishments since launch, and look forward to upcoming milestones, including a flyby of Mars in May 2026.

Whether the Psyche asteroid is the partial core of a planetesimal (a building block of the rocky planets in our solar system) or primordial material that never melted, scientists expect the mission to help answer fundamental questions about Earth’s own metal core and the formation of our solar system.

The spacecraft will begin orbiting the asteroid Psyche in 2029.

Riding along with the spacecraft is the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration, which has been transmitting data at the highest rate ever achieved from deep space beyond the Moon.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Produced by: True Story Films

[RoyCoffee-wb]

You guys do a good job articulating your enthusiasm.

[chasewimpy]

Super excited to see the laser comm test. That'll improve the deep space network massively.

[zzz]

Thank you for the amazing work, NASA.

[invisiblejaguar]

You all do an amazing job not just in paving the way further for Human space exploration, but also giving hope for our future 🖖

[maxplanck]

Psyche was probably the remnant of a former planet smashed by an impact possibly an old former earth ✌️❤️🇬🇧

[smooth-juice]

Was a dream holiday for me being at Kennedy and watching the launch 🚀 was amazing. Even meeting the people involved was amazing. Hello Lindy hope your well and wot a dream and looking forward to seeing what happens with the journey to 16 psyche

[toastedtarantula]

Interesting, this video inspires me to do research to get more information than the sound bites provide, especially the Electric Hall effect electric propulsion.

[scott]

This mission made the Tight Beam Com Laser from the Expance a reality. And I love that it bothers me that SpaceX had to expend the center falcon booster for this mission.

[marilougaming]

So cool, im so proud of making research in everything jpl has made, i love itt

[UtkuErkan-pl]

Nice impressive video, thanks JPL/NASA for your works/preparations. I ambition everything works out on this mission to psyche including laser communications that's being tested.

[pionero]

Esperando con ansias el inicio de dicha Misión al asteroide 16-Psyche en el 2029.

[cspahn]

The frontier of humanity is in the hands of these select few individuals- per aspera ad astra

[nedward.]

We need to move Psyche closer to the ground so that we have 2 satellites. Then you can study it to death:))

[WilliamDurham-qf]

Aeronautics and jets are not Astros or space.