An independent review of the issues that delayed the launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission revealed institutional issues at JPL that delayed the launch of another mission under development there.
NASA was released on November 4 Report of the independent review committee commissioned by NASA after the Psyche mission lost its launch window earlier this year. The mission, on the main metal belt asteroid of the same name, experienced delays in the development and testing of its flight software, and Now scheduled for release in October 2023.
The independent review, led by retired aviation executive Tom Young, found that while delays in development and testing were responsible for the mission of the August 2022 launch window, they weren’t the only problems Psyche encountered. The board said other unresolved software issues, incomplete validation and verification of vehicle systems and “inadequate planning and preparation for mission operations” could also cause delays.
The board linked these issues to more substantive issues with the management of not only Psyche’s mission but others at JPL as well. “Self problems are not exclusive to Psyche. Young said at an online meeting held by NASA to present the report’s findings.
He said JPL had an “unprecedented workload” of projects and the board found that the lab’s resources were very limited, particularly in terms of key technical skills. “Today there is a huge imbalance between the workload and the resources available at JPL,” she said. “This imbalance was a major cause of mental health problems and, in our opinion, negatively affects all activities of the JPL flight project.”
The report highlighted the challenges in hiring and retaining skilled engineers, as JPL competes with airlines that offer higher salaries, particularly in engineering and software development. “Therefore, there is a perfect storm, with external competitive pressures and internal demand pressures impacting the availability of these vital resources,” the report said.
Young said the board encountered a lack of communication, with engineers struggling to get managers’ attention to issues while senior management failed to “properly penetrate the project” and pinpoint problems earlier.
The pandemic, and the shift to remote and hybrid work, have also contributed to the problems of Psyche in particular and of JPL in general. The board concluded that limited personal interactions reduce opportunities for informal communication such as “attendance” meetings. The report found that Psyche team members “shared valuable information about the project” at a Christmas party in late 2021, their first in-person meeting in more than 18 months.
The board made several recommendations to JPL to improve the hiring and retention of key technical personnel, increase project oversight, and reconsider existing mixed commercial policies. He also invited the California Institute of Technology, which runs NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to improve its knowledge of JPL activities.
NASA said it is implementing Psyche’s recommendations, including increasing the number of personnel on mission and improving oversight. Young said the board believes the agency has come up with a plan for the mission that will support its launch in October.
Laurie Lichen, who took over as director of JPL in May, said she accepted the advice from the lab’s discovery. “Psyche has discovered inefficiencies that need to be addressed and we are committed to strengthening our organization and operations in a purpose-oriented and forward-looking manner,” she said. This included reconsidering hybrid approaches to work, even though she said JPL would not return to pre-pandemic policies.
Implementation of these recommendations will affect another NASA mission under development at the JPL. Laurie Glaese, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, noted that Psyche was the second JPL-operated discovery-class mission that experienced launch delays after the Mars InSight rover. The next JPL-managed discovery-class mission is Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Terrestrial and Spectroscopy, or VERITAS, the Venus orbiting mission that the agency has chosen to develop in 2021.
“After much thought, I must say that we intend to postpone the preparation date for the launch of Veritas to no later than 2031,” he said in a three-year gaffe. “This delay could offset the workforce imbalance for at least those three years and provide some of the increased funding that will be needed to continue Psyche towards a 2023 launch.”
In a subsequent phone call with reporters, Glaese said the agency was still working to determine the cost of Psyche’s delay because the mission was considering changes to the mission’s operations with new launch and arrival dates. He said Psyche would need more money than the agency would save by postponing VERITAS.
Lichin said the JPL will use the commission’s recommendations to review the status of other JPL-led missions, such as Europa Clipper and Mars Sample Return. “We will work through each of our projects, especially larger projects like Clipper and Mars Sample Return, to make sure the lessons learned are applied appropriately.”
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate scientific director, said he had “active discussions” with the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, two other centers that lead NASA’s science missions, to see if any kind of NASA – US guided review is needed to manage their missions.
