NASA's Psyche satellite design done, hardware manufacturing in full-swing

National Aeronautics ncy (NASA) recently completed design of its satellite Psyche and said that project has moved from planning and designing to manufacturing hardware for craft. Psyche, NASA mission to explore a metal-rock asteroid of same name, passed critical design review with 'flying colours', said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who as principal investigator for Psyche is leading overall mission. 

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According to NASA, mission was started with drawing up digital blueprints, n was moved to second st of building engineering models, which were tested and retested to confirm that systems would do ir job in deep . Following both sts, NASA conducted critical design review that Psyche completed and moved to manufacturing st, bringing it closer to its August 2022 launch date that will send craft to metal-rock asteroid in main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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NASA says that exploring asteroid Psyche, which is about 140 miles, or 226 kilometers, wide could give valuable insight into how our own planet and ors formed since Earth's core can't be examined up-close. " Psyche craft will use a magnetometer to measure asteroid's magnetic field. A multispectral imr will capture ims of surface, as well as data about composition and topography. Spectrometers will analyze neutrons and gamma rays coming from surface to reveal elements that make up asteroid itself," NASA said in a release. 

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Assembly, testing & launch

main body of craft, called Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) Chassis, is already being built at Maxar Techlogies in Palo Alto, California. Assembly, testing and launch operations of full craft is scheduled to begin in February 2021. Psyche is set to launch in August 2022 and will fly by Mars for a gravity assist in May 2023 before its expected arrival at asteroid in early 2026.

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(Im Credit: NASA)