Psyche
SpacecraftWikipedia
36
MENTIONS
5
EPISODES
5
PODCASTS
Search complete. 36 mentions across 5 episodes found for "Psyche".
Sep 14, 2026
Samantha WrightHOST
Well, Dr. Ben Weiss, the chair of planetary science at MIT, has been wondering about this for a very long time.
Samantha WrightHOST
He's the deputy principal investigator for NASA's Psyche mission.
Samantha WrightHOST
The goal is to study the asteroid called Psyche to find out if it's made of metal and if it could be the leftover core of a baby planet.
Samantha WrightHOST
And the spacecraft has already made a flyby of Mars.
Samantha WrightHOST
Dr. Weiss is coming to jump in Boise on September 26th for Interplanetary Life March of the Robots.
Samantha WrightHOST
I want to welcome you both to Idaho Matters.
speaker_0ADVERTISER
And I want to start with this question.
Samantha WrightHOST
Dr. Weiss, is it true that the Psyche mission grew out of a brainstorming session on a whiteboard with a colleague? And if it was, what were you trying to figure out?
Christian TrujilloGUEST
I remember we helped translate one of their, um, rainbow trout posters that went all over the nation.
Christian TrujilloGUEST
NASA, we helped with, uh, they had a coloring book out, um, the Psyche Mission, and so we did that translation.
Christian TrujilloGUEST
And then there is another org, Redwood Action Agency, who do-- is doing redwood curriculum for, um, kindergarten to fifth grade, and then we helped translate that.
Christian TrujilloGUEST
Um, and so helping other orgs get to the place if they don't have the folks or the resources, 'cause who knows? Hopefully in the future they can create those positions 'cause they see the importance of that work, and just-- we could just collaborate with each other.
Joe PistretoPANELIST
Now, I think they could find some really interesting stuff on asteroids.
Joe PistretoPANELIST
Right? Because, like, there's a mission to Psyche? I think it's Psyche.
Joe PistretoPANELIST
Yeah, it's got a
David LivingstonHOST
mission.
David LivingstonHOST
It's three names.
David LivingstonHOST
Lindsay, Tank.
David LivingstonHOST
Anyway, if you want an update, we can have her come on a show and do an update for us on what's happening with Psyche and where it is.
Joe PistretoPANELIST
Speaking of things that never happen in space.
MattHOST
It's not rare in the solar system.
MattHOST
There is a asteroid named 16 Psyche that they believe is 30% to 60% metal to create it.
MattHOST
They actually used to think it was about 90% metal, and then with better technology and better scans and things, they've realized it's not quite that much.
MattHOST
But there is tons of gold in the universe, right? So the first issue I have, so the Anunnaki are a real thought.
5 MINS LATER
MattHOST
The material is not at the bottom of a gravity well.
MattHOST
It's just essentially sitting there.
MattHOST
So, 16 Psyche.
MattHOST
It was found in 1852, and it is sitting in between Mars and Jupiter in our own solar system in the asteroid belt.
Flora LichtmanHOST
Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton is a planetary scientist, a very busy planetary scientist.
Flora LichtmanHOST
She's the director of UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory and the head of NASA's Psyche Mission, a $1.2 billion program to investigate the Psyche asteroid.
Flora LichtmanHOST
And she's the co-chair of the committee that came up with the Mars plan called A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars.
Flora LichtmanHOST
Lindy, welcome to Science Friday.
Lindy Elkins-TantonGUEST
The Earth is always gonna be the nicest place to live that humans know of.
Flora LichtmanHOST
Hmm.
Flora LichtmanHOST
Let's talk about your baby, the Psyche mission.
Lindy Elkins-TantonGUEST
The Psyche mission.