NASA's Mission to Metal Asteroid Psyche (Images)

NASA Mission to Metal Asteroid Psyche

Artist's concept of a spacecraft studying the huge metal asteroid Psyche from orbit. Scientists are developing a mission to study the asteroid Psyche because of the space rock's strange properties. Psyche is magnetic and may be made of metal, sparking some theories that it is the remnant core of a protoplanet destroyed eons ago. [Read the Full Story Here]

NASA Mission to Metal Asteroid Psyche

The first mission to the metal world 16 Psyche will map features, structure, composition, and magnetic field, and examine a landscape unlike anything explored before. Psyche will teach us about the hidden cores of the Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus.

Psyche, Unique Magnetic Asteroid Made of Metal (Infographic)

This Space.com infographic takes a look at the strange magnetic asteroid Psyche, which may be all that remains of what was once a protoplanet in the early solar system. See the full Psyche asteroid explainer infographic here.

Magnetic Field of a Huge Metal Asteroid

The huge metal asteroid Psyche may have a strong remnant magnetic field. [Read the Full Story Here]

'Hit-and-Run' Collision in Solar System's Youth

This simulation shows a "hit-and-run" collision between two large asteroids, the kind of impact that could have stripped the rocky layers from the big metal asteroid Psyche, exposing the protoplanet's iron core. [Read the Full Story Here]

Dawn Spacecraft Artist's Concept

NASA's Psyche asteroid probe could use technologies proven by the space agency's Dawn spacecraft, which uses solar power and an ion propulsion system to explore the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. [Read the Full Story Here]

Millions of Rocky and Metallic Asteroids Occupy the Asteroid Belt (Infographic)

Most asteroids orbit the sun within a broad belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter: the asteroid belt. Get the facts about the asteroid belt in this SPACE.com infographic.