The spacecraft, built by Maxar Space Systems, will operate its electric bow screws for the three -month equivalent between now and November to keep the mission on the way before arriving at Asteroid Psyche in 2029.
“Due to extensive tests and analysis, the team has limited the potential causes to a valve that may not function properly in the primary line,” Nasa said in a statement on Friday. “The switch to the identical Back -up Druklijn line At the end of May, the full functionality restored to the drive system.”
The next Waypoint on the Psyche trip will be a flyby of Mars in May 2026. Officials expect that Psyche will keep that date, which is crucial for the use of Mars' gravity to enter the spacecraft deeper into the solar system and ultimately to reach the asteroid belt in about four years.
NASA's psyche spacecraft takes a spiral path to the asteroid psyche, as shown in this image that shows the path above the planes of the planets, labeled with important milestones of the Prime Mission.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
At Psyche, the spacecraft will come into the track and gradually come closer to the asteroid, using a suite sensors to map the surface, to measure its shape, mass and gravitone field and determine its elementary composition. Observations by telescopes suggest that Psyche is approximately 140 miles (226 kilometers) in diameter, or roughly the width of Massachusetts. But it is probably not spherical in shape. Scientists describe his shape as more related to a potato.
Potatoes come in many forms, and researchers will not know exactly what Psyche looks like until Nasa's Asteroid Explorer arrives in 2029. Psyche will be the first metallic, or M-Type, asteroid visited by a spacecraft, and scientists are enthusiastic to study an object that is largely made of metal– probably iron, nickel and maybe some rarer elements– Instead of rocky minerals.
With the plasma thrusters of the Psyche spacecraft in action, these goals of the science mission of NASA's billion dollars remain feasible.
“The dedication and systematic approach to this mission team research is an example of the best of NASA engineering,” said Bob Mase, Psyche Project Manager at JPL, in a statement. “Their thorough diagnosis and recovery, with the help of the back -up system, demonstrates the value of robust design of spacecraft and exceptional teamwork.”
But there is still a persistent care, which problem the valve in the primary fuel line has caused, can ultimately also influence the same type of valve in the back -upline.
“We do a lot of good proactive work for that possible issue,” wrote Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the most important researcher of Psyche at Arizona State University, in a report about X.
