Arizona PBS presents half-hour special on Psyche space mission

Program scheduled to air Sunday, October 1 and Wednesday, October 4

Arizona PBS today announced the digital release and upcoming broadcast premiere of a half-hour program focused on the Psyche space mission. This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission, which is being led by Arizona State University (ASU) School of Earth and Space Exploration Foundation Regents Professor Lindy Elkins-Tanton, is scheduled to launch on Thursday, October 12. Titled “Psyche Mission: First to Metal, An Origin Story,” the Arizona PBS special is already accessible to station donors via Passport, and it will air on the station’s primary broadcast channel, 8.1, Sunday, October 1 at 12:30 p.m. and Wednesday, October 4 at 8:30 p.m.

Psyche is the name of an asteroid orbiting the sun from the outer part of the main asteroid belt. What makes Psyche unique is its composition, which scientists believe may be rich in metal. If that is the case, the Psyche mission will represent the first time scientists have ever been able to study a world made of metal. This six-year, 2.2 billion-mile journey could provide a one-of-a-kind window into the history of our own planet, which has a metal core.

“Arizona PBS has been one of the state’s leading storytellers for more than six decades, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring the remarkable story of the Psyche space mission to viewers across the state,” said the station’s interim general manager Mi-Ai Parrish.

Hosted by longtime Arizona PBS news anchor Ted Simons, the half-hour program features animations depicting the spacecraft and its upcoming journey, as well as in-depth interviews with various scientists involved in the project, including individuals from ASU, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Arizona PBS donors who would like to watch the special prior to Sunday’s broadcast premiere can do so via Passport on the PBS App.

A community service of Arizona State University (ASU), Arizona PBS is an affiliate of ASU
Media Enterprise, a nonprofit, nonpartisan collection of media outlets that empowers, engages and educates.

For more on Arizona PBS’ coverage of the Psyche mission, as well as other space-focused programming, visit azpbs.org/psyche-mission. For more on the mission itself, visit psyche.asu.edu.

About Arizona PBS

Arizona PBS is one of the nation’s leading public media organizations, with four broadcast channels and a growing array of digital platforms. A trusted community resource for 60 years, Arizona PBS fosters lifelong learning through quality programming, in-depth news coverage and critical educational outreach services. It is one of the country’s largest public television stations, reaching 80 percent of Arizona homes and 1.9 million households each week. Arizona PBS has been part of ASU since the station launched in 1961.

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