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NASA's Psyche spacecraft hits a speed bump on the way to a metal asteroid

“This kind of thing happens, and that’s why we build redundancy into our missions.”…

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, located nearly 150 million miles from Earth on the way to an unexplored metal asteroid, has stopped firing its engines after detecting a problem in its propulsion system. The mission's total cost adds up to more than $1.4 billion, including development of the spacecraft and its instruments, the launch, operations, and an experimental laser communications package hitching a ride to deep space with Psyche. Predictions about the look of Psyche's craters, cliffs, and color have inspired artists to create a cacophony of illustrations, often showing sharp spikes and grooves alien to rocky worlds.

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