Enlarge / NASA's Psyche spacecraft is the centerpiece of a $1.23 billion mission to explore a kind of asteroid that's never been visited before. (credit: Stephen Clark/Ars Technica) TITUSVILLE, Florida—NASA's Psyche spacecraft is running a year behind schedule before the beginning of its journey to explore a metal asteroid, but mission managers said Friday the probe is essentially ready for launch in less than two months. The spacecraft is heading for asteroid Psyche, the mission's namesake, about three times farther from the Sun than Earth.