Posted on 10/29/2022 6:59:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The Psyche spacecraft was supposed to launch toward its namesake, a bizarre metallic space rock in the main asteroid belt, between August and October of this year. But issues with Psyche's flight software made it impossible to hit that window...
Psyche will still launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as previously planned.
2022 liftoff would have delivered Psyche to its asteroid target in early 2026. But a 2023 launch requires a different trajectory, pushing the arrival back to August 2029...
NASA's Janus smallsat mission, which is designed to study two separate binary asteroid systems, now may not ride to space with Psyche, as it would have on a 2022 launch. "NASA continues to assess options" for Janus, officials wrote in Friday's statement.
(Another ride-along, NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications, will definitely fly with Psyche in 2023; it's integrated into the asteroid probe.)
The delay could also have budgetary implications. The mission has a total life-cycle cost (including launch) of $985 million, $717 million of which had been spent by late June(opens in new tab). Some belt-tightening might be needed to stretch the dollars over the extra years necessitated by the new plan.
Psyche is a 140-mile-wide (225 kilometers) asteroid that appears to be made mainly of iron and nickel — a composition similar to that of Earth's core. Many researchers therefore think it may be the exposed heart of an ancient protoplanet, whose rocky layers were stripped away by powerful impacts over the eons.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
I bet if that metallic space rock was made up of gold, there would be no limit to how much they will spend. Chances are it could.
Psyche!!! They are totally cancelling it.
Psyche!!! No they’re not.
Deflecting asteroids may lead to a cascade effect that may change the path of other asteroids and can lead to one possibly hitting the Earth...
Leave well enough alone Nasa...
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