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ASU-led Psyche mission finally set to lift off after delays since 2017

NASA is set to launch a new mission to an asteroid billions of miles away, which may offer up some clues about how Earth was made.

The launch is scheduled for Friday morning, a day later than expected due to weather conditions, NASA said Wednesday afternoon. The Psyche mission was initially selected for flight in 2017 and was set to launch in August of last year. But, that had to be moved back, with the pandemic part of the reason.

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Arizona State University vice president and principal investigator of the NASA Psyche Mission, spoke with The Show about the launch and more. 

The ASU-led mission will send a spacecraft 2.2 million miles to study a metal-rich asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. NASA has potential launch times listed through Oct. 25 if weather problems persist. 

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.