Psyche’s Journey
Ben Conway
Date: February 1, 2019
Major: illustration
Genre/Medium: 3D rendering with digitally-painted textures
About the work: This image shows the Psyche spacecraft on its way to the Psyche asteroid, with a partial circle representing the asteroid’s lost outer layers. It is a 3D rendering, with digitally-painted textures and one procedurally-generated texture. The spacecraft was modeled based on the technical diagrams I was provided. I referred to NASA photos for the appearance of Earth and Mars, and the shape of the Psyche asteroid was based on data from the paper “Radar observations and shape model of asteroid 16 Psyche.” The beam of light represents the spacecraft’s laser communications system. There are some subtle details in the background—several silhouettes of the Psyche spacecraft are hidden there, and there are 16 stars that represent the 16 Psyche Inspired interns. The representation of the asteroid’s lost layers resembles a keyhole, signifying the knowledge that this mission will unlock. (Planet reference images: STScI-PRC97-09a; NASA Satellite Camera Provides “EPIC” View of Earth.)
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