Later this year, NASA is set to launch a probe the size of a tennis court to the asteroid belt, a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where remnants of the early solar system circle the sun. Once inside the asteroid belt, the spacecraft will zero in on Psyche, a large, metal-rich asteroid that is thought to be the ancient core of an early planet. The probe, named after its asteroid target, will then spend close to two years orbiting and analyzing Psyche's surface for clues to how early planetary bodies evolved.

Ahead of the mission, which is led by principal investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton, planetary scientists at MIT and elsewhere have now provided a sneak peak of what the Psyche spacecraft might see when it reaches its destination.

The European Space Agency and NASA on Wednesday talked up the prospect of putting the first European on the moon, as they signed a deal strengthening collaboration for future lunar exploration.

The space agencies had already agreed that three European astronauts would fly on the Orion spacecraft to NASA's Gateway, a space station that will orbit the moon as part of the Artemis program.

Now it seems one of those astronauts will go a step further.

"We look forward to having an ESA astronaut join us on the surface of the moon and continuing to build on our longstanding, critical partnership," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said after attending an ESA council meeting in the Netherlands.

"NASA is counting on cooperation with ESA to propel exploration of the moon through the Artemis program," Nelson said in a statement, adding that "the European Service Module is the powerhouse of the Orion spacecraft".

The agencies also signed a deal on the Lunar Pathfinder, a planned communications satellite being built by British firm SSTL.