NASA's Psyche Mission to launch soon: Everything you need to know

Psyche, NASA's probe to explore a metal asteroid of a similar name, was planned to launch on Oct 12 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. However, due to bad weather, it postponed to Oct 13 morning

NASA is going to launch its first interplanetary spacecraft to space on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The Psyche mission is also the first such mission to explore an asteroid suspected to principally consist of metals other than iron and nickel.

Part of the organisation's low-cost Discovery Program, the $1.2 billion mission's planned October 2022 launch was postponed in June 2022 because of the late delivery of the spacecraft’s flight software and testing equipment.

Here's everything you need to know about NASA's Psyche mission and precisely when, where and how to watch the launch this Thursday and precisely what occurs if the launch is postponed. 

When will the NASA Psyche Mission launch?

NASA's Psyche asteroid mission launch has been postponed until 10:19 a.m. EDT (1419 GMT) on Friday (Oct. 13) due to severe weather conditions that are coming in from the Gulf of Mexico.

Psyche, NASA's probe to discover a metal asteroid of a similar name, was planned to launch on Thursday morning (Oct. 12) on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Pad 39A here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Although, during a pre-launch press briefing on Wednesday (Oct. 11), it has been an expectation for the next morning's forecast that there will only be a 20% opportunity of ideal weather conditions.

As Wednesday night's storm blew in, the choice was made to cancel Thursday's launch to take advantage of the better weather conditions anticipated for launch windows on Friday and Saturday (Oct. 14).

What is the Psyche Mission?

Founded in 1852, Psyche is viewed as the most captivating object in the primary asteroid belt, and researchers can only study it distantly. Researchers think the asteroid is made out of the exposed core of a planetesimal, a small body that was created during planet formation as gas and dust around a star collapsed in dense patches. 

A planetesimal could ultimately proceed to assemble more mass and in this manner become a planet. However, Psyche is thought to have failed to arrive at planet status since it crashed into other bigger bodies as the solar system was shaping to 4.5 quite a while back, conceivably stripping the metal-rich asteroid of its outer rocky shell and revealing its iron-rich core.

By studying these little bodies planetary researchers can find out about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the cycles that are currently working today.

All you need about NASA’s Psyche Mission

In 1992, NASA started planning its Psyche mission in 2017 to explore the past unexplored metallic asteroids of a similar name as a part of the agency’s Discovery Program.

The mission is a first to an asteroid with significant measures of metal instead of those made generally of rock or ice, and is a result of the collaboration of several institutions, which include Arizona State University,which provided the spacecraft's multispectral imager;  NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California which is responsible for the mission's general operations, management and navigation.

One of the most critical aspects of the Psyche mission is to get the spacecraft to this distant asteroid and afterward fixing it in place so its scientific instruments can take care of their responsibilities.

What will be the consequences of the Psyche Mission delay?

If weather conditions postpone the launch in that case, there are a lot of multiple other chances. Its launch period runs from Thursday, October 5 through Wednesday, October 25. " The launch window for Psyche is 21 consecutive days with one instantaneous launch window each day beginning October 5," said Serkan Bastug, mission manager, Launch Services Program, NASA Kennedy, in a press briefing.

He added, “Everyone here at the NASA Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is very excited to be a part of this incredible scientific mission”. 

What is the complete duration of the Psyche's journey?

The spacecraft will travel nearly six years and 2.2 billion miles utilizing a solar electric propulsion system and a gravity assist at Mars.

The spacecraft will begin sending pictures to Earth when it recognizes the asteroid. Furthermore, when it will show up in 2029, the spacecraft will orbit and mark the asteroid for approx 26 months utilizing its store of instruments.

How to watch the Psyche Mission launch?

NASA will give upcoming pre-launch coverage and launch activities for the mission, which has been focused on for launch at 10:19 a.m. GMT on Friday.

Live launch coverage will start around 9:15 a.m. on NASA TV, with commentary starting after approx 15 minutes.

Moreover, that coverage of the broadcast will stream on the space agency's YouTube channel, Twitch, X (Twitter) account, Facebook page and the NASA mobile app.