Lab instrument now on two-billion-mile journey to the metallic asteroid Psyche

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2023 Gamma Ray Spectrometer Morgan Burks 5112

An instrument designed and built by LLNL researchers departed Earth last week on a two-billion-mile, nearly six-year journey through space to explore a rare, largely metal asteroid.

The Livermore high-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma-ray sensor is an essential part of a larger gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) built in collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHAPL) in Laurel, Maryland. It is part of a suite of instruments set to make the first-ever visit to Psyche, the largest metal asteroid in the solar system. The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University (ASU).

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