04/08/2022
The Psyche mission is getting ready to launch. They will be investigating the large metal asteroid Psyche 16.
Shake and bake. ✅
To prepare for its launch in August, the Psyche spacecraft recently underwent a rigorous series of environmental tests to ensure it will be able to withstand the extreme conditions of launch and the unforgiving conditions of space.
Pictured here is JPL’s 85-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide (26-meter-by-8-meter) ultra-sturdy vacuum chamber for thermal-vacuum (TVAC) testing. During testing, all of the air was sucked out of the chamber to replicate the airless vacuum of space, and engineers exposed the spacecraft to the coldest and warmest temperatures it will experience in flight. The spacecraft also endured electromagnetic, vibration, shock, and acoustic testing.
Psyche was deemed healthy and ready to proceed toward launch, where it will then make its way to a metal-rich asteroid of the same name.
More on this mission milestone: go.nasa.gov/3x1rEnk
