The NASA Psyche Mission: The First Up-Close Exploration of a Metal-Rich World

This book serves as the primary initial reference and starting point for readers to understand the background, motivation, and goals/objectives of the NASA Psyche Discovery mission to explore the large metal-rich Main Belt asteroid (16) Psyche. Chapters describe the development of the mission and its scientific goals, measurement objectives, and observational strategies; the high-fidelity instrument investigations that are being used to achieve those goals/objectives; the details of the innovative spacecraft systems and operational processes that are taking those instruments to this interesting asteroid; and the detailed design of the mission that will be carried out there. The book begins with a detailed description of the mission design, including the fascinating history of the mission’s origins and the many challenges encountered on the way to launch. The next five chapters then provide background, context, details, and plans from each of the mission’s five science-focused thematic Working Groups. Those are then followed by four chapters that describe each of the mission’s science instrument investigations in detail, and one chapter that provides detailed information about the spacecraft and its many subsystems that had to be optimized to conduct this specific mission. Finally, the collection ends with a wonderful chapter describing the mission’s novel and ambitious student and public engagement program, which plays a major role in the team’s communication and outreach to the many different stakeholders in the mission. Reprinted from Space Science Reviews, Topical Collection: The NASA Psyche Mission: Science Instruments and Investigations