NASA's Psyche mission on track for fall launch to metallic asteroid after yearlong delay

NASA's long-awaited mission to send a spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid is on track to launch in October following a one-year delay, the agency announced Monday.

The Psyche spacecraft, named for the asteroid to which it is bound, was initially expected to take off in August before the mission team requested to delay the launch due to software problems and institutional issues at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA and its JPL in Pasadena, California convened an independent review board last summer to assess the factors that contributed to the delay. That board issued a report on May 30 finding that steps taken by NASA and the California Institute of Technology since November to get the delayed mission back on track have been “outstanding" and have "exceeded expectations," according to the Monday announcement.

The JPL, which the California Institute of Technology manages on behalf of NASA, now lists the launch window as Oct. 5-25.

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“I am pleased with the independent review board’s resoundingly positive assessment of JPL’s hard work in correcting the issues outlined in the board’s original report,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a statement. “We know the work is not over. As we move forward, we will work with JPL to ensure these implemented changes continue to be prioritized to position Psyche and the other missions in JPL’s portfolio for success.”

What caused the delay?

Psyche team members scuttled plans last year to launch the spacecraft before the launch window closed on Oct. 11 partially due to concerns that the in-flight software was not ready, NASA said in October.

The review board, led by retired aerospace executive A. Thomas Young, also concluded that workforce issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the delay.

In response, the Psyche mission added more team members, reorganized part of its workforce and adopted metrics to ensure that the launch was on track. Among the changes was an update to the JPL's hybrid work policy to increase the number of days team members spend together onsite each week.

The review board's report also noted improvements to senior management’s oversight of the mission, according to NASA.

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“The independent review board is extraordinarily impressed by the accomplishments of the total JPL organization and Caltech,” the report authors noted. “Engagement in and leadership of the overall response process by the JPL director and senior leadership is deemed ‘world class.'"

What is the Psyche mission?

NASA began planning its Psyche mission in 2017 to investigate the previously unexplored metallic asteroid of the same name as part of the agency’s Discovery Program formed in 1992.

This October, the Psyche spacecraft will finally embark on a 280 million-mile journey, reaching the asteroid Psyche in August 2029.

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Assembly of the spacecraft is complete except for the installation of the solar arrays and the imagers, which were to be reinstalled before June.

This month, the mission begins its final assembly, test, and launch operations. Engineers and technicians from NASA’s JPL will return to Astrotech Space Operations Facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they will work until the launch.

Scientists hope that as Psyche orbits the metallic asteroid for 26 months, secrets could be revealed of Earth's own core, as well as those of other terrestrial planets.

As planetary bodies take shape within star-circling rings of gas and dust, they may be smashed, broken up, vaporized or face other mayhem. Few become terrestrial planets like Earth — atmospheres intact with metallic interiors and outer crusts.

Psyche — a 140-mile wide chunk of metal and rock on the solar system's asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — didn't turn out that way. NASA scientists theorize that the asteroid could be a partial exposed core composed of nickel-iron, the shattered remnants of an early planet.

Earth's own metallic core is unreachable, far below the planet's rocky mantle and crust. But if Psyche is indeed a core, scientists believe that studying it could yield valuable insights about the heart of our own planet.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @EricLagatta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA's Psyche mission back on track for October launch