Hypothesized Surface: Power Solutions – KAIKANA

INSTITUTION

Arizona State University

CLASS

Copper Class (2021 – 2022)

STUDENT TEAM

ACADEMIC GUIDANCE

Dr. Michael Kozicki, Professor, ASU School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

On March 17, 1852, an M-type asteroid was discovered and named ‘Psyche’, and in August 2022 NASA is set to launch a spacecraft to orbit around the asteroid and collect data to find out if this metallic object was the core of a planetesimal. Team Kaikana has been tasked to develop a power source for potential future missions to land on the asteroid and collect data that will enable us to learn its origin.

The purpose of our design is to simulate the power source and components necessary to maintain that power as well as collect some information about Psyche and with our budget of a few hundred dollars we were able to build some of the components necessary to show the workings of our design. There have been many discoveries that stem from NASA and other space agencies that have been incorporated into civilian life so we believe our lander will also be important in finding new data from an asteroid with similar characteristics to Earth’s core.

This work was created in partial fulfillment of Arizona State University Capstone Course “EEE 488”. 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 number 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.