Psyche keeps its date with an asteroid, but now it’s running in backup mode
The spaceship, built by Maxar Space Systems, will operate its electric propellants for the equivalent of three months by November to keep the mission on the right track for the arrival at Asteroid Psyche in 2029.
“Thanks to complete tests and analyzes, the team reduced the potential causes to a valve that could have misunderstood in the primary line,” NASA said in a statement on Friday. “The transition to the line of backup propeller identical to the end of May restored full functionality to the propulsion system.”
The next Waypoint on Psyche’s journey will be an overview of March in May 2026. Managers expect Psyche to keep this date, which is essential to use the gravity of March to toll the spaceship more deeply in the solar system, finally reaching the asteroid belt at around four years.
The NASA psyche spacecraft takes a spiral path to the asteroid psyche, as illustrated in this graph which shows the path above the planet plane, labeled with key stages of the main mission.
Credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH
In Psyche, the spacecraft will go into orbit and gradually approach the asteroid, using a series of sensors to map its surface, measure its shape, mass and gravity field, and determine its elementary composition. Observations through telescopes suggest that the psyche is diameter of around 140 miles (226 kilometers), the width of the Massachusetts. But it is probably not spherical shape. Scientists describe its form as more similar to a potato.
Potatoes are available in many forms, and researchers will not know exactly what the psyche looks like until the NASA asteroid arrives in 2029.– probably iron, nickel and perhaps some rarest elements– Instead of rocky minerals.
With the plasma of the psyche spaceship again in action, these objectives of the scientific mission of the billion dollars of NASA remain feasible.
“The dedication of the mission team and the systematic approach to this survey illustrates the best of NASA engineering,” said Bob Mase, Psyche project manager at JPL, in a statement. “Their diagnosis and in -depth recovery, using the backup system, demonstrates the robust design value of the spaceships and exceptional teamwork.”
But there is still a persistent concern, any problem that caused the valve in the primary fuel driving could also affect the same type of valve in the backup line.
“We are doing a lot of good proactive work around this possible problem,” wrote Lindy Elkins-Aton, principal psyche investigator on Arizona State University, in an article on X.
