Metal asteroid mission back on menu for space exploration.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, which will explore a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, is back on track for an October 2023 launch after a one-year delay due to management and staffing issues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission aims to gain insights into planetary formation, understand the interior of terrestrial planets like Earth, and examine a world that is made largely of metal. The mission is also of interest to the nascent asteroid mining community, which seeks to learn about the potential value harbored by these relatively rare, metallic asteroids.