While the NASA Psyche mission is already behind its initial schedule, NASA has moved to delay the launch date to October 12.
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 11: Clean room engineers prepare the Psyche mission spacecraft inside a Spacecraft Assembly Facility clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on April 11, 2022 in Pasadena, California. The NASA spacecraft is scheduled to launch in October 2023 on a solar-powered 1.5 billion mile journey toward the giant metal-rich asteroid Psyche, which it will begin orbiting for study in 2029. Scientists believe the mysterious asteroid might be the exposed core of an ancient planet and hope to learn more about Earth's metal core and the formation of Earth's solar system.
NASA's $1B Psyche Mission Delayed Further
The launch date is pushed back so that engineers can ensure that the nitrogen gas thrusters of the spacecraft are functioning optimally.
The Psyche Mission, worth more than 1 billion dollars, was initially set to deploy in August 2022. However, it has faced several delays until now.
The team behind the mission's guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) flight code gave the software eight months past the deadline. An independent review board was then summoned for investigation. According to the panel, staff shortage, burnout, high turnover, and the pandemic were all factors that contributed to the delay of the launch.
Eventually, NASA settled to have the launch date on October 5, 2023, to make room for thoroughly sufficient testing. However, the mission launch has been pushed back to October 12.
The agency confirmed that both NASA and SpaceX are looking into having the launch on October 12, 10:16 EDT, at the Kennedy Space Center. The Psyche mission will be launched with the Falcon Heavy.
This date change enables the team to finish its parameter verifications that focus on the nitrogen gas thrusters of the probe. Engineers will be performing simulations and looking into the flight parameters post-adjustment. When the craft is transported to space, it will depend on its thrusters for orientation navigations as it moves toward the asteroid it targets.
Psyche Mission
NASA's Psyche mission is dedicated to reaching the 16 Psyche asteroid that orbits the Sun between Jupiter and Mars, rich in metals. The asteroid is unique as it is an early planet's nickel-iron core. The rock is extremely large to the point where it takes up 1% of the asteroid belt.
The Psyche mission will offer insights regarding accretion and collision history in terrestrial planets, as it is impossible to observe or measure the core of the Earth directly. Nevertheless, even if the asteroid is not an early planet's exposed core, it would serve as a rare primordial solar object.
The probe will travel around 3.5 billion kilometers toward the asteroid when the mission launches. If things go according to plan, it may reach 16 Psyche by August 2029 and spend over 26 months orbiting the rock. Its closest approach will be 75 kilometers from the asteroid's surface.
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