NASA’s Psyche Gets Its Huge Solar Arrays Permanently Installed

The solar arrays for NASA’s Psyche mission underwent a final deployment test and were permanently installed on the spacecraft at Astrotech Space Operations near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Psyche is preparing for a 2.5 billion-mile (4 billion-kilometer) solar-powered trip to the metal-rich asteroid of the same name. In a clean room at Astrotech, the solar arrays were attached to the spacecraft body, unfolded lengthwise, and then re-stowed. This timelapse video was shot over about eight days in late July 2023. The solar arrays provide power for the journey to the asteroid and for operating the spacecraft’s science instruments. When unfolded, each array is 37 feet (11.3 meters) long.

Psyche expects to launch from Kennedy no earlier than Oct. 5, 2023. For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to: nasa.gov/psyche and psyche.asu.edu/

Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson and Cory Huston