(AGENPARL) – lun 05 giugno 2023 June 05, 2023 
RELEASE 23-061
*Review Board: NASA-JPL Psyche Progress Outstanding, Launch on Track*
A team prepares NASA’s Psyche spacecraft for launch inside the Astrotech
Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. Psyche will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch
Complex 39A at Kennedy.
*/Credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky/*
Steps taken by NASA, the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in
Southern California, and Caltech, to put the Psyche [1] mission on track
for an October 2023 launch have been outstanding, according to an
independently appointed review board. NASA and JPL convened the board last
summer after the Psyche mission team requested to delay the spacecraft’s
August 2022 launch to a metal-rich asteroid of the same name.
In its November 2022 report [2], the independent review board made extensive
recommendations to address both project and JPL institutional issues that
contributed to the launch delay. After thorough follow-up reviews with the
Psyche project, JPL, and Caltech, the board’s May 30 report finds the
actions taken since November exceeded expectations. Caltech manages JPL for
NASA.
“I am pleased with the independent review board’s resoundingly positive
assessment of JPL’s hard work in correcting the issues outlined in the
board’s original report,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “We know the work is
not over. As we move forward, we will work with JPL to ensure these
implemented changes continue to be prioritized to position Psyche and the
other missions in JPL’s portfolio for success.”
Led by retired aerospace executive A. Thomas Young, the Psyche independent
review board concluded in its initial report that while JPL workforce issues
related to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the launch delay, additional
factors, ranging from staffing to communication to management oversight,
contributed as well.
In response to the review board’s recommendations, JPL moved to directly
address the concerns regarding the Psyche project as well as the laboratory
as an institution. The Psyche mission added experienced team members,
reorganized a large part of its workforce, and adopted comprehensive metrics
to monitor progress toward launch and operational readiness. The report also
noted improvements to senior management’s oversight of the mission.
“The independent review board is extraordinarily impressed by the
accomplishments of the total JPL organization and Caltech,” the report
authors noted. “Engagement in and leadership of the overall response
process by the JPL director and senior leadership is deemed ‘world class.'"
Institutionally, JPL moved rapidly to update its hybrid work policy to
increase the number of days team members spend together onsite each week to
improve collaboration and communication. The laboratory, according to the
report, was also “exceptional” in its efforts to attract and retain
experienced engineering staff, with the Psyche mission being among the
beneficiaries.
In addition, JPL leadership focused on clarifying roles, responsibilities,
and technical skillsets within its engineering organization while ensuring
flight project team members were aware of pathways to raise concerns. Lessons
learned from the Psyche mission also are applicable to other flight projects,
including Europa Clipper and Mars Sample Return. JPL also revamped monthly
project status reviews to ensure risks are well understood at all levels of
the organization.
“We convened this board weeks after I stepped in as director and addressing
the issues it raised has been a central focus in my first year as director of
JPL. The results are gratifying,” said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. “Our
goals went beyond getting Psyche to the launch pad to improving JPL across
the board as we work on missions that will help us better understand Earth,
explore the solar system and the universe, and search for signs of life. Our
strong response to the board’s findings reinforces the notion that JPL can
solve any problem with the right focus and attention."
The board also determined in its report NASA and its management centers need
to more clearly define the responsibilities of its standing review boards
[3], which help ensure appropriate program and project management oversight
to increase the likelihood of mission success.
The spacecraft will reach asteroid Psyche in August 2029, orbiting it for 26
months to gain insights into planetary formation, better understand the
interior of terrestrial planets like Earth, and examine a world that is made
largely of metal.
Read the report, as well as NASA’s response, on the agency’s website:
*https://go.nasa.gov/3Nesipu [4]*
-end-
*Press Contacts*
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1257 / 202-358-1501
Matthew Segal / Veronica McGregor
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-8307 / 818-354-9452
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[1] https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/psyche_irb_report_and_response_nov_2022.pdf
[4] https://go.nasa.gov/3Nesipu