The NASA Psyche Mission to a Metallic World

Lindy Elkins-Tanton is the PI for the Psyche Mission, launching in 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy.

“For the first time ever, we are exploring a world made not of rock or ice, but of metal. Deep within the terrestrial planets, including Earth, scientists infer the presence of metallic cores, but these lie unreachably far below the planets’ rocky mantles and crusts. The asteroid Psyche offers a unique window into these building blocks of planet formation and the opportunity to investigate a previously unexplored type of world.” — psyche.asu.edu