Meet Christina Hernandez, a flight systems engineer on NASAs Psyche mission, which will be the first to check out a metal-rich asteroid, likewise called Psyche. In this video Hernandez, from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, speaks about getting Psyche ready for launch through the spacecrafts verification-and-validation phase and her passion for heavy metal music. Credit: NASA.
Livestreams and Broadcasts.
Produced by NASA 360, the videos will be launched weekly on Tuesdays. The first (embedded above) was launched on August 22. JPL will host a livestream with Julie Li at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT) on September 13 and one with Luis Dominguez at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT) on September 20 on JPL YouTube, Facebook, and X. Questions can be sent by means of the livestream chats.
Psyche is set to introduce atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 10:38 a.m. EDT (7:38 a.m. PDT) on October 5, with additional chances set up through October 25.
More About the Mission.
Spanning roughly 173 miles (279 kilometers) at its broadest, the asteroid Psyche might be a fragmentary core of a planetesimal (among the structure blocks of a rocky world), or it might be prehistoric product that never ever melted. The primary objective of the Psyche objective is to discern between these possibilities. The objective will even more shed light on the secrets surrounding Earths metal core and the genesis of our planetary system. Upon its arranged arrival at Psyche in 2029, the spacecraft will embark on a 26-month observation duration, capturing images and collecting data to enhance our understanding of the asteroid.
NASAs Psyche objective to a far-off metal asteroid will carry an innovative Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) bundle. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
” Behind the Spacecraft” is a series of brief videos that offer peeks of the individuals whove helped make this upcoming journey to a metal-rich asteroid possible.
What inspires someone to devote years to assist construct something that will be soared into area, never to be seen once again on our world? For the researchers, engineers, and service technicians behind NASAs Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid, the answers are extensive. They share a common thread: a passion to explore the unidentified.
Members of NASAs Psyche objective– from left, Luis Dominguez, Christina Hernandez, Meena Sreekantamurthy, Julie Li, and Ben Inouye– are featured in a new “Behind the Spacecraft” video series from the agency. Credit: NASA
That inspiration is highlighted in the brand-new “Behind the Spacecraft” video series, in which 5 members of the Psyche group inform the story of how they ended up on an objective created to answer concerns about the mysterious asteroid Psyche.
For the scientists, engineers, and professionals behind NASAs Psyche objective to a metal-rich asteroid, the answers are wide-ranging. And as a heavy metal fan, shes thrilled that Psyche is an objective bound for a metal world.
Now he draws a line from the discoveries made at sea to those that the Psyche missions robotic quest hopes to make.
Meet Christina Hernandez, a flight systems engineer on NASAs Psyche mission, which will be the first to explore a metal-rich asteroid, likewise called Psyche. The main objective of the Psyche objective is to discern between these possibilities.
View a trailer about the series:
Fulfill some of the engineers who assisted develop NASAs Psyche mission, which is set to release in October on a journey of 2.2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) to a metal-rich asteroid of the exact same name. Credit: NASA
Christina Hernandez, a flight systems engineer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, assisted guide the group through the verification-and-validation stage of the mission to prepared the spacecraft for the extreme conditions of area. For her, engineering is a way to make science fiction truth. And as a heavy metal fan, shes excited that Psyche is a mission bound for a metal world.
Meena Sreekantamurthy, a power electronic devices engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, dealt with the power supply system for one of the spacecrafts science instruments. She paints and draws in her leisure time and marvels that something she assisted develop with her own hands will reach the asteroid belt.
Ben Inouye is an engineer who dealt with the team that designed and built the spacecraft power system. Before pertaining to JPL, which handles the mission, he worked as a marine engineer. Now he draws the line from the discoveries made at sea to those that the Psyche missions robotic quest wishes to make.
Julie Li oversaw development of the spacecrafts sci-fi-worthy solar electrical propulsion hardware at Maxar Technologies. As a child, she wanted to be an astronaut, and her very first job after college was as a style engineer on NASAs space shuttle. Today, the spacecraft builder is likewise an outside adventurer.
Luis Dominguez is the systems and electrical lead at JPL for the test, assembly, and launch operations stage of the objective. As somebody who never envisioned as a kid that he d be an engineer working someplace like JPL, he advises the kids he meets to embrace their curiosity. (The video featuring Dominguez will also be readily available in Spanish.).