JAKARTA - The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) will resume launching the asteroid 16 Psyche mission in October 2023, after experiencing delays for more than a year.
The mission was originally scheduled to be launched in August 2022 to explore the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche.
Two months before taking off, NASA postponed the launch of the spacecraft due to problems with flight software and testing equipment.
The delay sparked a review of operations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which uncovered a number of problems related to its workforce, with several other factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, communication and management issues.
A few weeks ago, the Independent Reviewing Council (IRB) completed another assessment of how well JPL and Psyche's team responded to its recommendations to get things back on track.
The suggestion includes adding experienced members to the team, rearranging the workforce, and monitoring progress towards launches with a more comprehensive metric.
"IRB believes the response to our Psyche project and the findings and recommendations of the JPL agency are excellent," said a retired aerospace executive A. Thomas Young, who led IRB in a recent press conference.
"We believe Psyche is on a positive track for the October 2023 launch. We believe the date of the 2023 launch readiness is trustworthy, and the overall mission's success probability is high," he added.
The spacecraft will reach the asteroid Psyche in August 2029, orbit it for 26 months to gain insight into planet formation, better understand the interior of terrestrial planets like Earth, and examine asteroids most made of metal.
It is known that the Payche asteroid is located on the outermost part of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, possibly the remains of the planetesimal core, a building block of planetary rock.
Unlike many other objects in the Solar System, asteroid Psyche is tilted. Mission planners need to take this unusual rotation into account when they map the spacecraft's observation orbit around the asteroid.
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Another challenge is that the spacecraft will reach Psyche at a different point in the orbit of the asteroid surrounding the Sun than in the previous mission plan. The Psyche mission will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy 39A Launch Complex.
In addition, lessons from Psyche's mission also apply to other flight projects, including Europa Clipper and Mars Sample Return. JPL also changed its monthly project status review to ensure risk is well understood at all levels of organization.
"Our goal is more than just to bring Psyche to the launch pad to upgrade the JPL as we work on a mission that will help us better understand Earth, explore the solar system and the universe, and look for signs of life," said JPL Director Laurie Leshin.
"Our strong response to the council's findings reinforces the notion that JPL can solve any problems with the right focus and attention," he added.
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