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Psyche Inspired – Iridium Class
Psyche Mission Orbit D Notebook
Jessica Gurney
April 25th, 2025
Major: Astronomy
Genre/Medium: BookBinding
About the work:
The final book in the series is the Psyche Mission Orbit D Notebook. Orbit D in the mission is to study the elemental composition of the asteroid. Maps of elemental composition typically assign colors to different elements, making the map of the asteroid or planet take on this rainbow look. I wanted to somehow show the different color assignments to elements. In my mind I came up with a stained glass look using acrylic, so it would be like the three different colors of acrylic represent the distribution of three different elements.
I designed the stained glass sections, laser cut the acrylic, and used acrylic paint to color the pieces. Painting acrylic was challenging. LED’s were inset in the cover to light up the map, but when I held the acrylic to the lights the paint brush strokes were easily seen. I ended up doing a few more paint layers with a more natural dabbing motion to get a spotted effect which could then be interpreted as rocks or gems on the surface. The pieces were attached together with copper tape and solder to really bring out the stained glass look. Once I was satisfied I inset the piece in the book with UV resin.
Psyche Inspired Overview
Psyche Inspired is a program that brings undergraduate students from any discipline or major together to share the excitement, innovation, and scientific and engineering content of NASA’s Psyche mission with the public in new ways through artistic and creative works. These works are posted in the gallery above and highlighted on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. View the full resolution images in the image gallery. This year’s Psyche Inspired cohort is known as the Iridium Class.
Psyche Inspired was piloted at ASU during the 2017-2018 academic year. The following academic year, Psyche Inspired expanded nationally! The works from each Psyche Inspired cohort are collected in individual downloadable books that tell the story of Psyche through musical scores, sculptures, painting, 3-D models, photography, acrylic art, needlepoint, stop-motion films, mixed media, and more.
Click here to view all the Psyche Inspired books
Take a look at our comprehensive map that shows how the Psyche Inspired program has grown over the years!
