The illustration of this artist imagines a cruel collision at the beginning of the history of Psyche. Credit: ASU / Peter Rubin
NASA announced on Friday, June 24, 2022, that the asteroid mission Psyche, the agency’s first mission to study a metal-rich asteroid, would not make the planned launch attempt in 2022.
Due to the late delivery of the spacecraft’s flight software and test equipment, NASA does not have enough time to complete the necessary tests before the remaining launch period this year, which ends on October 11. The mission team needs extra time to ensure that the software will function properly during the flight.
NASA selected Psyche in 2017 as part of the agency’s Discovery program, a line of low-cost, competitive missions led by a principal investigator. The agency has formed an independent evaluation team to review the way forward for the project and the Discovery program.
“NASA takes the cost and schedule of its projects and programs very seriously,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Washington Scientific Missions Directorate. “We are exploring mission options in the context of the Discovery program and a decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months.
This illustration, updated in April 2022, depicts NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
The independent evaluation team, usually made up of experts from government, academia and industry, will review possible options for the next steps, including estimated costs. The implications for the agency’s opening program and the planetary science portfolio will also be considered.
The spacecraft’s navigation and flight software will control the spacecraft’s orientation as it flies through space and is used to direct the spacecraft’s antenna to Earth so that the spacecraft can send data and receive commands. It also provides information on the trajectory of the spacecraft’s solar electric propulsion system, which began operating 70 days after launch.
As the mission team at NASA’s Southern California Jet Propulsion Laboratory began testing the system, a compatibility issue was found with the simulators on the software test bench. In May, NASA moved the target launch date from August 1 to September 20 to take on the necessary work. The problem with the test benches has been identified and corrected; however, there is not enough time to complete the full software test to run this year.
“Flying to a distant metal-rich asteroid, using Mars as a gravitational assistant on the way there, requires incredible precision. We need to understand it correctly. Hundreds of people have put in a remarkable effort at Psyche during this pandemic, and the work will continue as sophisticated flight software has been thoroughly tested and evaluated, ”said JPL Director Lori Leshin. “The decision to postpone the start was not an easy one, but it is the right one.
The launch period of the mission in 2022, which lasted from August 1 to October 11, would allow the spacecraft to reach the asteroid Psyche in 2026. Launch periods are possible in both 2023 and 2024. , but the relative orbital positions of Psyche and Earth mean the spacecraft will not reach the asteroid by 2029 and 2030, respectively. The exact dates of these potential launch periods have yet to be determined.
“Our amazing team overcame almost all the incredible challenges of building a spaceship during COVID,” said Psyche chief researcher Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University (ASU), who leads the mission. “We overcame many hardware and software challenges and were eventually stopped by this latest problem. We just need a little more time and we’ll get this one. The team is ready to move forward and I am very grateful for their superiority. ”
The total cost of Psyche’s lifecycle mission, including the rocket, is $ 985 million. Of that, $ 717 million has been spent so far. The estimated maintenance costs of each of the full range of available mission options are currently being calculated.
Two travel projects were planned to launch on the same SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as the Psyche, including NASA’s Janus mission to study dual binary asteroid systems and a demonstration of Deep Space Optical Communications technology to test high-speed laser communications. integrated with the Psyche spacecraft. NASA is evaluating options for both projects.
ASU leads the Psyche mission. The JPL, which is operated for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the overall management of the mission; systems engineering; integration and testing; and mission operations. Maxar provides the chassis of the high-power spacecraft with solar electric propulsion. NASA’s launch program, based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is managing the launch.
Add Comment