16 Psyche
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16 Psyche is a large M-type asteroid, which was discovered by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, on 17 March 1852 and named after the Greek goddess Psyche.
Multiple views of 16 Psyche imaged by the Very Large Telescope
Illustration of Psyche commissioned by NASA
Shape model of asteroid 16 Psyche, with some of the observed surface features indicated.
Artist's concept of the Psyche spacecraft orbiting asteroid Psyche
Psyche (spacecraft)
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Psyche is a NASA Discovery Program space mission launched on October 13, 2023, to explore the origin of planetary cores by orbiting and studying the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche beginning in 2029. NASA
16 Psyche
…to be the exposed core of a protoplanet, but observations reported in 2020 have cast doubt on that hypothesis. Psyche will be explored by NASA, with a spacecraft of the same name, marking the first time a human-made object will journey to a metallic asteroid. The spacecraft was launched on 13 October 2023, with an expected arrival…
SPT-140 Hall-effect thrusters undergoing testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.