In big setback for NASA, Asteroid Psyche Mission launch delayed

The NASA Asteroid Psyche Mission was scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on October 5, 2023, on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. However, the mission launch has been delayed due to further inspections and verification of the spacecraft and its equipped instruments. Now the mission has been rescheduled with a week’s delay and it is scheduled to launch on October 12, 2023.

NASA’s Psyche Mission launch date

According to a NASA report. the Falcon Heavy launch of the Psyche mission will now be conducted on October 12, 2023, at 10:16 a.m. EDT. NASA said, “The change allows the NASA team to complete verifications of the parameters used to control the Psyche spacecraft’s nitrogen cold gas thrusters.” As per reports, the parameters were recently integrated which will support science, power, thermal, spacecraft orientation, momentum management, and other requirements for the mission’s success.

Additionally, NASA said that the launch can happen between October 12 and October 25, after they get all requirements checked for a successful launch.

About the Psyche asteroid mission

According to a Jet Propulsion Laboratory report, the mission has plans to study the metallic asteroid named “Psyche.” The asteroid is now orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid has a nickel-iron core that NASA says was essential in creating our solar system. The mission objectives include getting some 280 kilometres near the Psyche asteroid.

The mission will unfold if the asteroid is a core or just an unmelted material. Furthermore, it will study its topography and asteroid’s gravity using various scientific instruments such as a multispectral imager, magnetometer, gamma ray and neutron meter and more.

The Psyche Mission will also test a new laser communication technology called Deep Space Optical Communication (DSOC). Deep-space communication is achieved with this technology by encoding data in photons at infrared wavelengths. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed this technology that could reduce the time it takes to communicate between Earth and deep space.

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