A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.
A clay sculpture of a skater girl, reimagining NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. She soars mid-air over the 16 Psyche asteroid, her rollerblades powered by hall thrusters. Sunglasses mimic solar cells, and sleek wings extend from her back. Painted in Psyche mission colors, the piece blends science and art, capturing the excitement of space exploration.

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Rollin’ to 16 Psyche

Alexa Jones

May 6th, 2025

Major: Computer Science & Mechanical Engineering

Genre/Medium: Air-Dry Clay w/ acrylic paint

About the work:

“Rollin’ to 16 Psyche” shows my imagining of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft as a hip-hop-style skater girl, bringing a groovy perspective to space exploration. This piece draws inspiration from my previous project, “Psyche’s Cosmic Groove,” an animation where I interpret the spacecraft as a stylized “groovy” character skating through space to find 16 Psyche. This clay sculpture physically brings my character’s design to life, capturing her energy as she orbits (or, in this case, jumps over) the asteroid.

The design stays true to the spacecraft’s functionality and use of its scientific instruments while still being expressive and maintaining the hip-hop aesthetic. Her sunglasses mimic the triple-junction solar cells, while her rollerblades, powered by hall thrusters, propel her through space, flying through the air with a set of solar cell wings attached to her back.

The asteroid and Psyche character sculptures have a wireframe with an aluminum foil base for structure and stability. Airdry clay was sculpted over this frame to form the final piece, and after a day of drying, the piece was hand-painted with acrylics to bring out the vibrant colors and details.

With Rollin’ to 16 Psyche, I wanted to merge scientific exploration with creative storytelling. I love being able to put my artistic spin on anything, really, and this space mission is no different. I intended to make space exploration seem fun and vibrant, and that’s not just something to study–it’s something to experience and imagine.

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Psyche Inspired is a program that brings undergraduate students from any discipline or major together to share the excitement, innovation, and scientific and engineering content of NASA’s Psyche mission with the public in new ways through artistic and creative works. This year’s Psyche Inspired cohort is known as the Iridium Class. These works are posted in the gallery and highlighted on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. View the full resolution images in the image gallery. There are many ways to get involved with NASA’s Psyche mission. Learn how you can be a part of the Psyche mission through our “Get Involved” pages at https://psyche.ssl.berkeley.edu/get-involved/ and https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/ways-to-participate/. To learn more about the overall Psyche mission, visit nasa.gov/psyche or jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche.

Date Added: 05-06-2025
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Alexa Jones - Psyche Inspired

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