Mission to asteroid leaking fuel

As you might have noticed already, it was the discovery of the asteroid Psyche that inspired me to write Rock Hopper. You can imagine my excitement when NASA announced their mission to reach Psyche with a spacecraft in 2029. It's always interesting to see real life following fiction.

Now, with the latest news from the mission, I'm convinced that someone has been reading Rock Hopper. Turns out, in April, NASA:s spacecraft was having a pressure drop in the line feeding xenon gas to the thrusters. This could lead to a fuel shortage, something the main character in my book Rock Hopper also experienced on the way to his asteroid. I don't want to spoil too much, but I can say that it takes a good measure of ingenuity to keep the mission on track.

The NASA engineers don't seem very shaken yet. The thrusters automatically powered off when the fuel line pressure dropped, and they have time to investigate what happened until mid-June when the thrusters need to be powered up again to keep the mission trajectory. Worst case, they switch to the alternate fuel line. These guys really think ahead. Let's hope for the best, and that the spacecraft doesn't run into any space pirates, oh wait, that was the book, not real life 😝.

Update 2025-05-28: NASA switched to the backup fuel line.

Update 2025-06-20: Spacecraft resumes full propulsion. Mission is on track, with next stop Mars in May 2026, where the spacecraft will slingshot towards Psyche using the planets gravity. ETA is still planned for 2029.