Psyche spacecraft during assembly. Two of the four Hall thrusters (under red round covers) used to propel the spacecraft have been installed. The Psyche mission will visit a metal-rich asteroid of the same name that lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid is thought to be the nickel-iron core of an early planet, or protoplanet, that lost its surface in series of violent collisions. Investigating the composition of the asteroid should give insight into the metallic cores of terrestrial planets such as Earth. Psyche is planned to launch in August 2022. Photographed in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA, in July 2021.