# @arizonastateuniversity on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C7ZiiHzqtvu
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/18063667-arizonastateuniversity-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/c0f703ca99.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-05-25T17:00:30.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Arizona State University (@arizonastateuniversity) — https://gondola.cc/arizonastateuniversity

## Caption

Remember #MissionToPsyche — the journey to the metal-rich asteroid of the same name, led and monitored by a team of scientists and engineers at ASU and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory? 

Well, the Psyche spacecraft, which is about the size and weight of a large SUV, just passed its six-month checkup with a clean bill of health, and there’s no holding back now.

Equipped with tennis court-sized solar panels that power the system, the spacecraft was launched via the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The journey to Psyche will take nearly six years — orbiting the asteroid repeatedly starting from 435 miles out and then going down to 46 miles from the surface, and once it arrives in August 2029, the probe will spend 26 months mapping the geology, topography and gravity.

The missiontopsyche team is staying in regular contact with Psyche using NASA’s Deep Space Network, a system or large radio antennas. Currently, navigators are firing its futuristic-looking electric thrusters, which a emit a blue glow, nearly nonstop as the orbiter zips farther into deep space.

The thrusters are part of Psyche’s incredibly efficient solar electric propulsion system, which is powered by sunlight. The thrust created by the ionized xenon is gentle, but it does the job. Even in full cruise mode, the pressure exerted by the thrusters is about what you’d feel holding three quarters in your hand. 

Tap the link in our bio (arizonastateuniversity) to learn more: https://ow.ly/zY3U50RUFkn

nasasolarsystem 
nasajpl

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## Tags

missiontopsyche

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