Software testing problem delays Psyche launch

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NASA decided there was not enough time to finish testing the spacecraft's software before its launch window closed

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therefore the Psyche asteroid mission will not launch this year as originally scheduled.

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Agency representatives stated during a briefing on June 24 that the mission did not have enough time to test the spacecraft's guidance,

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navigation, and control (GNC) software before its launch window closed on October 11. Because of the software testing difficulty, NASA has already postponed the launch from August 1.

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Director of NASA's planetary science division Lori Glaze stated, "Following rigorous review, augmentation of resources, and efforts to rescope or rephase functionality

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the project and JPL have concluded that Psyche does not have a path to launch with acceptable risk in the 2022 window.

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Officials from the project claimed that the GNC software itself was not the issue, but rather a testbed that was used to evaluate the software by imitating a spaceship.

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In essence, the testbed is a stretched-out simulation of the real spacecraft

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Henry Stone, Psyche project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, described it as a blend of hardware and software

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Its purpose is to create a copy of the flight system that can be used to test all system behaviours using software.

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be updated with technology updates

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