Psyche Inspired: Nidhi Shah

Institution: Columbia University

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Psyche Inspired Class: 2024-2025

Reflections on Psyche Inspired

Reflections on Project 1: Chalk It Up

The piece depicts an array of black rectangles representing chalkboards. These rectangles are filled with black marker, and layered with colored pencil to give a chalkboard texture. On each board are various math and science concepts jotted using a white marker to represent chalk. Overlaid at the center is an outline of the goddess Psyche. Behind her are Psyche’s solar panels acting as wings.

Chalk It Up

Nidhi Shah

November 8th, 2024

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Genre/Medium: Pen, Marker, Colored Pencil

About the work:

“Chalk It Up” represents the humble beginnings of the incredible Psyche mission. This artwork captures the remarkable engineering feats and collaborative efforts that transformed what seemed impossible a decade ago into a reality. Much of this progress can be traced back to a single idea on a chalkboard (or, more commonly now, a whiteboard). The foundational math and science concepts depicted on the boards—like F=ma—continue to be essential to the success of such missions.

At the center of the piece is Psyche, the goddess of the soul, depicted with her hair symbolizing the 16 Psyche asteroid. Her wings are illustrated more mechanically, representing Psyche’s solar panels, to show the connection between the goddess behind the name and the spacecraft. This piece was created using markers and pens, with colored pencils employed to create a chalkboard texture, while white pen mimics chalk on the blackboards. The way in which the chalkboards seem to continue off the page depicts the vast amounts of understanding, hard work, and disciplines involved in the success of the mission. Read more…

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Reflections on Project 2: The View On Board

The View on Board

Nidhi Shah

January 15th, 2025

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Genre/Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

About the work:

“The View On Board” aims to place the audience—both the engineers and scientists of Psyche as well as the general public, you and I—onto the spacecraft as it approaches the Psyche asteroid. The room isn’t anything special, with some connections to space exploration like the model solar system hanging from the ceiling or the telescope looking out into the cosmos. Taters is sitting on the couch and again in the mirror reflection, and those lucky peanuts are on the centerpiece. Yet, when you look outside the window, maybe take a step onto the balcony, it’s a whole different world. The breathtaking beauty of the Psyche asteroid fills your view. It’s not just a mission for the scientists who are excited to analyze the data Psyche collects. We’re right there along with the Psyche spacecraft, hearing about her discoveries as they occur. It’s a mission for all of us as we seek to answer the curiosities of the world beyond our own. Except, this time, this new world might uncover truths about our world.

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Reflections on Project 3: Unearthing Psyche

Unearthing Psyche

Nidhi Shah

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Genre/Medium: Colored Pencil on Wood

About the work:

Unearthing Psyche reimagines the Psyche mission not as a journey through space, but as an excavation into Earth itself. Rather than traveling outward, the spacecraft digs through layers of our planet to reach its core. The Psyche 16 asteroid is a metal world much like our planet’s core, and is likely to uncover truths about our own planet and its formation. The contrast between the asteroid’s textured, cratered surface and the fluid motion of the spacecraft’s descent reinforces the connection between space and Earth’s interior. The use of colored pencil on wood adds an organic texture, enhancing the sense of discovery. By challenging the perception of space exploration as purely outward-bound, this piece invites viewers to reconsider the ways we seek knowledge—not only by looking beyond, but also by delving inward. Unearthing Psyche suggests that space exploration is as much about understanding ourselves as it is about reaching the stars.

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Reflections on Project 4: Psyche Against the Universe

The card game consists of a blue box decorated with cartoonish designs including the spacecraft with punching mitts. Inside there are yellow prompt cards and brown answer cards with a title and funny description. Answer cards also have rankings for their effectiveness and chaos factor. There is also a rulebook which describes the contents and additional rules to add chaos to the game.

Psyche Against the Universe

Nidhi Shah

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Genre/Medium: Created digitally using Canva; printed using Launch Tabletop

About the work:

“Psyche Against the Universe” is a 3-5 player card game inspired by Apples to Apples. The game takes place over the six-year journey of the Psyche spacecraft as it travels through space to its asteroid target. In this fictional version of the mission, Psyche encounters bizarre situations, from alien encounters to absurd instrument malfunctions. Players use answer cards—ranging from unconventional uses of Psyche’s instruments to wild sci-fi concepts—to solve these ridiculous problems. Each round, a judge picks a prompt card, and players respond with their best (or funniest) solution. With players pitching their absurd fixes, every round spirals into a chaotic and hilarious problem-solving session. This game is especially designed for the engineers and scientists who made the Psyche mission possible, offering them a chance to have fun while redefining their work in ridiculous ways. The artwork for the cards, as well as the box and rules was completed using Canva and compiled within Launch Tabletop for printing. The goal of this project is to imagine exciting adventures Psyche might be having as we anticipate the spacecraft reaching the asteroid.