NASA-ASU Psyche Mission
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.
Fall 2024
Robotic Explorer for Hypothesized Surfaces
The team focused on designing a prototype rover to explore the surface of the asteroid Psyche, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This mission is significant because Psyche, believed to consist largely of metal, may provide valuable insights into the building blocks of planets. The rover’s design aims to facilitate detailed exploration…
Landing System for Hypothesized Surfaces
NASA, a leader in space exploration, discovered the asteroid 16-Psyche in the central asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, notable for its high metallic composition, believed to be the exposed core of an ancient planet. This discovery inspired the Psyche mission, which aims to send a probe to study the asteroid’s surface and gather critical…
Spring 2026
34 Robotic Explorer for Hypothesized Surfaces
Exploring metallic asteroid surfaces presents challenges for existing rover designs, which are optimized for rocky or granular terrain. This project addresses that challenge by working with the NASA Psyche Mission to develop a rover concept suited for uneven, rigid surfaces. The design features adaptive wheels that conform to terrain and improve stability under low-gravity conditions….