NASA was unable to send the Psyche probe to the metallic asteroid Psyche due to unsuitable weather conditions for the Falcon Heavy rocket launch

NASA and SpaceX were unable to launch the Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche probe. The reason was bad weather conditions.

Here's What We Know

The Psyche spacecraft is designed to study the metallic asteroid Psyche. The launch was scheduled for the morning of 12 October, but even the day before NASA announced that due to bad weather in Florida the probability of starting the mission was only 20%.

Because of the storm, the space agency finally decided to abandon the launch of Falcon Heavy and postpone the launch of the mission to tomorrow. The SpaceX rocket is expected to be able to send the Psyche probe into space at 10:19 (EDT) or 07:19 (PDT). The probability of favourable weather conditions is estimated at 50%.

The cancellation of the launch scheduled for Thursday is also due to the peculiarities of Falcon Heavy. It all comes down to the fact that the tanks can only be fully refuelled twice, after which maintenance will be required. The launch window will close on 25 October 2023.

The metallic asteroid Psyche is located in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered in mid-March 1852 by Annibale De Gasparis (Annibale de Gasparis), an astronomer from Italy. Scientists believe that the asteroid may be the core of a protoplanet.

Source: SpaceX