NASA postpones probe to explore asteroid to Oct 12
It was previously scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in Florida on October 5
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NASA has postponed its Psyche mission, aimed at exploring a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, to October 12, the US space agency said.
It was previously scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on October 5.
“The change allows the NASA team to complete verifications of the parameters used to control the Psyche spacecraft’s nitrogen cold gas thrusters,” the agency said in a statement.
“These thrusters are used to point the vehicle in support of science, power, thermal and other demands, such as spacecraft orientation and momentum management,” it added.
The parameters were recently adjusted in response to updated, warmer temperature predictions for these thrusters.
Operating the thrusters within temperature limits is essential to ensure the long-term health of the units, the team officials said. The verification activities involve rerunning simulations and fine-tuning adjustments as required to the flight parameters and procedures.
NASA, SpaceX, and Psyche mission managers met on September 28, to conduct a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
During the FRR, teams provided an update on the mission status, and certified the readiness to initiate final launch preparation activities including a static fire test on September 29.