Psyche Mission Description and Design Rationale

Abstract

The Psyche spacecraft launched on October 13, 2023 to journey to the asteroid of the same name. Psyche is the largest M-class asteroid and possibly the remanent core of an early differentiated planetesimal that was disrupted by collisions. The Psyche mission will test that hypothesis as the 14th mission in NASA’s Discovery Program. An alternative hypothesis is that the asteroid is unmelted primordial material. We describe the proposal competition process leading to selection of the mission and its context with other small body missions. This paper will briefly introduce the three science instruments, gravity science investigation, and Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration, leading into a detailed explanation of the science mission architecture. The orbital science phase is divided into a series of circular mapping orbits at four distinct altitudes, each selected to address specific science objectives. The requirements and objectives for each orbit are accompanied by an assessment of the effectiveness of each phase. We discuss the structure of the Psyche team during the operations phase along with the roles and responsibilities of the science and flight operations teams. Key elements of mission operations that are unique to the Psyche mission are provided. The Science Data Center manages and archives the Psyche mission data. The contents of the archive data sets for each instrument are outlined as well as the interfaces between the Science Data Center, the instrument teams, and the Planetary Data System.