NASA's Psyche spacecraft hits a speed bump on the way to a metal asteroid
a year ago
- #Propulsion
- #NASA
- #Spacecraft
- NASA's Psyche spacecraft stopped firing its engines due to a detected problem in its propulsion system.
- The issue involves a decrease in fuel pressure in the xenon fuel line, dropping from 36 psi to 26 psi.
- The spacecraft automatically powered off its thrusters in response to the pressure drop.
- Psyche uses solar electric propulsion, relying on solar-generated electricity and xenon gas for thrust.
- Engineers are investigating the cause, with no immediate effect on the spacecraft's trajectory.
- The thrusters can remain off until mid-June before the spacecraft would drift off course.
- NASA has a backup fuel line option if the issue is traced to the primary fuel line.
- Mission managers emphasize built-in redundancy to handle such issues without immediate concerns.