https://aiaa-sf.org/registration/
NOTE: The event has been postponed from May 2. The new date will be announced shortly.
Psyche: Adapting a Comm Spacecraft to Explore a Metal-Rich Asteroid
The Psyche spacecraft, built by Maxar in partnership with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Arizona State University, is flying to 16-Psyche, an all-metal asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. Humanity has never before explored a world like it. But terrestrial planets like Earth are presumed to have metallic cores beneath their crusts. Psyche will hopefully help us learn more about planet cores: how planets are formed or how they get ripped apart. If it could be mined, 16-Psyche could be worth $10,000 quadrillion (that’s 19 zeros).
The program was first proposed in 2011, NASA put out the initial proposal in 2014, and JPL, ASU, and Maxar were awarded the contract in 2017. It was launched on October (Friday the) 13th, 2023, and left the Earth on a Falcon Heavy. At 5 months into the mission, the spacecraft is healthy. It is expected to reach 16-Psyche in August 2029.
Psyche is adapted from the Maxar 1300 series bus, which was designed as a geostationary (GEO) communications and remote sensing platform. It has 4 highly efficient electric propulsion thrusters and 12 “simple” cold gas thrusters. The electric propulsion produces about as much force as getting hit in the head with a piece of paper. With no atmospheric drag these thrusters can accelerate objects to incredibly high speeds, but also be used to get into orbit around the asteroid and spiral down to low altitudes. Between the thrusters and a Mars flyby, it will reach 124,000mph relative to Earth before orbiting the asteroid. For comparison, the Lucy mission (launched in 2021) with a chemical propulsion system will visit multiple asteroids via short duration flybys.
In addition to the primary asteroid mission, Psyche also hosts the laser-based DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) technology demonstration, which is breaking records on how much data can be transferred from deep space.
Dr. Ian Johnson a Principal Engineer at Maxar Space Systems, where he leads propulsion work for several bipropellant and electric spacecraft, including Psyche. He received his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from University of Washington in 2015, where his research focused on integrating an alternative propellant Pulsed Plasma Thruster into the High-Power Helicon Thruster Experiment. He joins Santa Clara University this year as a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department.
Advance registration required! Tickets will not be sold at the event. Refreshments (pizza, sandwiches, drinks) will be served at the presentation for paid attendees only.
https://aiaa-sf.org/registration/
NASA’s Psyche Mission to an Asteroid: Official NASA Trailer