NASA put an asteroid mission on hold Friday, blaming the late delivery of its own navigation software.
The Psyche mission to a strange metal asteroid of the same name was supposed to launch this September or October. But the agency's Jet Propulsion Lab was several months late delivering its software for navigation, guidance and control—a crucial part of anyis going to step back, and an independent review will look at what went wrong, when the spacecraft could launch again and even if it should go ahead, NASA planetary sciences chief Lori Glaze said.
Now that the software has been delivered, there's no known problems with the spacecraft except"we just haven't been able to test it," said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the Psyche mission lead scientist. There are still at least two launch opportunities next year and more in 2024 to get to the asteroid that sits in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. That means Psyche wouldn't arrive at its asteroid until 2029 or 2030.needs the proper sunlight conditions and the asteroid"is spinning like a rotisserie chicken instead of like a top," Elkins-Tanton said.
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