Small-body mission · NASA / Lockheed Martin

Janus (cancelled)

A NASA SIMPLEx pair of small spacecraft designed to fly by binary asteroids. Built to share Psyche's launch, the twins were left without a viable trajectory when Psyche slipped by a year, and the mission was cancelled with the spacecraft put into storage.

CancelledFlyby Mission

Targets & sample

Also:Binary near-Earth asteroids (original targets no longer reachable)

Mission & science

Goals: Fly two small spacecraft by binary asteroids to study rubble-pile structure.
Outcome: Cancelled in 2023 after the Psyche launch delay removed a viable trajectory.
Known limitations: Cancelled before launch; hardware placed in storage.

Knowledge connections

Member of groupFlyby Mission

Sources

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.

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