NASA's Psyche mission delayed to October 13: Here's why
NASA has pushed the launch of its Psyche asteroid mission to Friday, October 13, at 10:19am EDT (7:49pm IST) due to unfavorable weather conditions coming from the Gulf of Mexico. The mission was originally supposed to lift off on October 12 aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. However, with only a 20% probability of good weather, the launch was delayed in hopes of better conditions on October 13.
Weather officer explains the factors behind the delay
Arlena Moses, launch weather officer with US Space Force, shared the concerns at a prelaunch press briefing. "One of the main watch items now has kind of shifted from just the storms in the area to our liftoff winds," Moses said. The winds were expected to increase rapidly "out of the south and southwest," reaching speeds of 32-40 kph. These conditions were predicted to persist through Thursday's launch window, leading mission teams to delay until Friday.
Backup launch opportunities fall on October 13 and 14
Moses provided backup windows for Friday and Saturday during the briefing, stating that there is a 50% chance of 'go conditions' on both days. The primary concerns are the "storms in the area," where "anvil clouds, some thick clouds, which are layered clouds, as well as cumulus clouds" get "associated with storms," said Moses. Despite similar probabilities for both days, most storms are expected to blow after the morning launch window on Saturday.
Mission's launch vehicle: Falcon Heavy may have influenced the delay
The decision to skip Thursday's launch may also be related to SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket having limited launch recycle attempts. The rocket can be completely fueled for launch up to two times before requiring maintenance that would delay the launch by more than a couple of days. Tim Dunn, NASA's senior launch director at Launch Services Program, explained after a second fueling attempt, it would take about 'five days to replenish the liquid oxygen (LOX) in the ground sphere.'
The Psyche mission aims to explore a metal-rich asteroid
Once launched, the Psyche probe will travel to the metal asteroid, also called Psyche, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers think this unique metallic celestial body could be the exposed core of a planetesimal (the building block of an early planet) and could thereby shed light on the formation of our own planet Earth. Along with Psyche, NASA is sending a laser communication experiment called DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications).
