NASA postpones the Psyche mission to a metallic asteroid for a week

2023-09-29 13:05:25

Artist’s conceptual illustration depicting NASA’s Psyche mission spacecraft near the mission’s target, the metallic asteroid Psyche. -NASA

MADRID, 29 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –

NASA has decided postpone from October 5 to 12 the launch from the Kennedu Space Center, in Florida, of its Psyche mission bound for the metallic asteroid of the same name.

The change allows the NASA team to “complete verifications of parameters used to control the Psyche spacecraft’s cold nitrogen gas thrusters“. These thrusters are used to orient the vehicle in support of scientific, energy, thermal and other demands, such as spacecraft orientation and thrust management.

“The parameters were recently adjusted in response to updated predictions of warmer temperatures for these thrusters. Operating the thrusters within temperature limits is essential to ensure the long-term health of the units,” explains NASA it’s a statement.

Verification activities involve rerunning simulations and making necessary adjustments to flight parameters and procedures.

Psyche, whose planned launch in 2022 was postponed due to problems in the software and navigation, has launch opportunities every day between October 12 and 25. The ship will fly aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket.

Psyche’s target is a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, which orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists think Psyche is mostly iron and nickel and could be the core of an early planet. Explore Asteroid Psyche (226 kilometers wide) could provide valuable information about how Earth and other planets formed.