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Psyche is an M type asteroid discovered on March 17, 1852. It is the largest and most massive of the M type asteroids. M type asteroids are a class of asteroid which appear to have high concentrations of metal phases (i.e., iron and nickel).

The first size estimation of Psyche was around 253 kilometers (157 miles). But with later observations the size was about 15% larger than the currently accepted value mean diameter 220 kilometers (140 miles).

Psyche is massive enough that its gravitational perturbations on other asteroids can be observed, which enables mass measurements. The value of the most recent measurement was around (2.287 ± 0.070) x 10^19 kg.

In 2014, a mission to visit Psyche was proposed to NASA by Arizona State University. A orbiter would orbit for around 20 months studying the topography, surface features, and other characteristics of the asteroid.

Psyche follows an orbit in the outer part of the main asteroid belt, at an average distance from the Sun of 3 astronomical units (AU), equivalent to 4.488 x 10^8 kilometers or 2.789 x 10^8 miles; Earth orbits at 1 AU.

Psyche Asteroid AR

(WebXR/AR Public Engagement)

build 0430.2023

Developed by: Jiayuan Wen Adam Wojtaszczyk Vasu Mahendrabhai Patel Brandon Lupole

This project was a part of the Computer Science and Software Engineering senior design class at Pennsylvania State University and was advised by Dr. Chen Cao.

Psyche asteroid and spacecraft model supplied by School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.

Psyche asteroid texture created by Peter Rubin at Arizona State University.

Hands and gestures icons created by Atif Arshad at Flaticon

This project was developed with the help of Three.js and WebXR API.

Special Thanks:

Dr. Jonathan (Teck Meng) Liaw Dr. Naseem Ibrahim Dr. Thomas Rossi And all family and friends who helped and encouraged us during the development of this project.

Disclaimer:

This work was created in partial fulfillment of Pennsylvania State University Capstone Course “CMPSC 485 / SWENG481″. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.asu.edu). “Psyche: A Journey to a Metal World”. Contract NNM16AA09C is part of the NASA Discovery Program mission to solar system targets. Trade names and trademarks of ASU and NASA are used in this work for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by Arizona State University or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ASU or NASA.

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This work was created in partial fulfillment of Pennsylvania State University Capstone Course “CMPSC 485 / SWENG481″. The work is a result of the Psyche Student Collaborations component of NASA’s Psyche Mission (https://psyche.asu.edu). “Psyche: A Journey to a Metal World”. NNM16AA09C is part of the NASA Discovery Program mission to solar system targets. Trade names and trademarks of ASU and NASA are used in this work for identification only. Their usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by Arizona State University or National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of ASU or NASA.