Orbital operations of Psyche, with preliminary dates that may evolve as mission planning progresses, reflecting the nature of low-thrust trajectory operations.
Image Credit: Alicia Neesemann
About the mission instruments
In order to investigate the asteroid’s structure, composition, and history, The Psyche spacecraft is equipped with a suit of advanced scientific instruments: The Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS) measures the elemental composition, especially total iron content in both metal and silicates, providing key data on Psyche’s formation and differentiation. The Psyche Multispectral Imager acquires high-resolution, color-filtered images of Psyche’s surface across various orbits. It consists of a pair of identical cameras that will support navigation, geological mapping, creation of high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs), detect compositional variations, and provide context for the spectrometer data. The Magnetometer will search for remanent magnetic fields that may indicate Psyche once had a core dynamo – a key sign of planetary differentiation. The Gravity Investigation will track subtle variations in the spacecraft’s motion to derive Psyche’s internal structure and bulk density. This data will help correlate surface features with interior properties.
Much like the earlier NASA Discovery mission Dawn, Psyche’s science phase will consist of descending orbital stages to enable increasingly detailed observations. These orbits are: Orbit A (700 km alt., 35 m/px), B1 and B2 (300 k alt., 15 m/px, C (190 km alt., 10 m/px), and D (75 km alt., 4 m/px). Each science orbit will bring the spacecraft closer to the asteroid, improving spatial resolution and enabling different types of data acquisition – ranging from global imaging to in-depth elemental and magnetic field measurements.