Systems Test Strategies for the Psyche Orbital Operations Phase

Psyche, “Journey to a Metal World”, is a NASA Discovery-class mission led by principal investigator Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University. The Maxar solar electric propulsion (SEP) chassis will carry Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) avionics and a magnetometer from the Danish Technical University (DTU), multispectral imagers from Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), and gamma ray and neutron spectrometers (GRNS) from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) to the presumed metallic asteroid 16 Psyche in the asteroid belt. The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) tech demo will additionally be accommodated in the early mission. The spacecraft will fly through four progressively lower orbits once at the asteroid, utilizing the electric propulsion system to transfer between orbits. Each science orbit is designed such that it enables specific science goals, including global mapping, while operating all payloads concurrently. A testing strategy was developed to provide adequate verification and validation of science scenarios and capabilities while appropriately prioritizing testing based on the need date in the mission. The testing of payload-heavy scenarios is planned to be covered functionally by a blend of unit and functional testing on flight hardware and engineering models, and scenario testing on the flight hardware and system testbed. This paper will focus on the systems engineering process and explore how this strategy was both implemented and is evolving as testing continues. It will additionally discuss work to go in preparation for launch.