A new exhibition from the Phoenix Airport Museum at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is inspired by a potato-shaped, metal-rich asteroid named Psyche that sits between Mars and Jupiter.

On October 12, 2023, NASA plans to launch a spacecraft of the same name on a mission to Psyche.

The Psyche spacecraft should arrive at the Psyche asteroid sometime in 2029 and then orbit it for at least 26 months.

Courtesy NASA

Through early 2024, the Phoenix Airport Museum is presenting an exhibition inspired by the Psyche mission.

Psyche: Mission to a Metal World, presents a diverse range of artwork by students involved in Arizona State University’s Psyche-Inspired internship program.

Each year, the program accepts 16 undergraduate students from any university in the U.S. And through creative works, the students interpret the mission’s data, predict outcomes, and even develop science-fiction-based scenarios.

This new exhibit includes paintings, sculptures, animations, and more from the Psyche Inspired program.

Highlights include an animated, stop-motion “interview” with the Psyche satellite, a 6-foot-tall personified “asteroid robot” and vivid illustrations anticipating the asteroid’s surface. Visitors can also learn fun facts about Psyche and the NASA mission to visit it.

Look for this out-of-this-world exhibition, on display at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in Terminal 3, level 2 near the security checkpoint through early 2024.

Exhibit images courtesy Phoenix Airport Museum

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