WASHINGTON — NASA is investigating an issue with the electrical propulsion system on its Psyche asteroid spacecraft, however an company official mentioned it’s not presently a serious concern.
In a press release posted by NASA on an company web site April 29, however not broadly publicized till April 30, NASA mentioned the electrical thrusters on the Psyche spacecraft shut down April 1 when strain fell in a line that feeds xenon propellant to the thrusters.
The strain dropped from 36 kilos per sq. inch (248 kilopascals) to 26 kilos per sq. inch (179 kilopascals), NASA mentioned, inflicting the thrusters to cease. NASA didn’t disclose how shortly the strain dropped or different particulars about the issue.
Psyche launched in October 2023 on a mission to the principle belt asteroid of the identical title. The spacecraft turned on its Corridor impact thrusters in Could 2024 that, together with a Mars flyby in Could 2026, will enable the spacecraft to reach at Psyche in August 2029.
Talking at a gathering of the Mars Exploration Program Evaluation Group April 30, Louise Prockter, director of NASA’s planetary science division, mentioned groups at JPL have been learning the thruster concern. “The crew at JPL is doing an ideal job determining precisely which half is the issue and what’s happening with that,” she mentioned. Each the electrical propulsion system and the spacecraft bus have been offered by what’s now Maxar House Methods.
NASA mentioned that Psyche can proceed to coast till the center of June earlier than there’s a important impact on its trajectory. Options might embrace switching to a backup propellant line.
“This type of factor occurs and that’s why we construct redundancy into our missions,” Prockter mentioned. “We don’t have any issues for the time being about it however we’re clearly maintaining tabs on it.”
Psyche had been working effectively since its launch on a Falcon Heavy in October 2023, however suffered issues in its improvement. That included software program testing delays late in its improvement that pushed again its launch from August 2022 and elevated the mission’s value from $1 billion to $1.2 billion.
An investigation into the Psyche issues revealed broader institutional points at JPL brought on by a heavy workload and exacerbated by communications issues throughout the lab.
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