NASA's Psyche asteroid mission gets a crucial fix to prevent thruster overheating

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, set to launch on October 12, will reduce the power of its maneuvering system after engineers discovered that its thrusters were at risk of overheating during its eight-year mission to explore a metallic asteroid. The issue was discovered during testing, and a simple tweak to the thruster parameters will limit their thrust to 30% instead of the planned 80%. This adjustment will prevent potential damage to the thrusters and ensure the mission's success. The Psyche spacecraft will be the first to explore a rare metallic asteroid, known as 16 Psyche, and will spend 26 months orbiting the asteroid after its arrival in 2029.