A deep-space mission is celebrating the primary anniversary of its launch from Earth by zipping nearer to the planet than the Worldwide House Station’s orbit.
NASA’s Lucy mission launched on Oct. 16, 2021, certain on a 12-year journey to discover the Trojan asteroids, which no spacecraft has ever visited. These asteroids are discovered on the similar distance from the sun as Jupiter, with one phalanx orbiting forward of the planet and one behind it. All advised, Lucy will whiz previous 9 totally different asteroids.
However with a purpose to preserve these appointments, Lucy first must fly previous Earth to select up pace and regulate its trajectory. The primary such flyby comes Sunday (Oct. 16) at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 GMT); at its closest, Lucy shall be simply 220 miles (350 kilometers) above Earth’s floor, decrease than the orbit of the International Space Station, in keeping with a NASA statement. That is shut sufficient that some skywatchers will be able to spot the spacecraft.
“The final time we noticed the spacecraft, it was being enclosed within the payload fairing in Florida,” Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator on the Southwest Analysis Institute in Colorado, mentioned within the assertion. “It’s thrilling that we will stand right here in Colorado and see the spacecraft once more. And this time Lucy shall be within the sky.”
Associated: Meet the 8 asteroids NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will visit
The maneuver would possibly make for thrilling skywatching, however such an in depth method is difficult.
First, Lucy should navigate the swarm of satellites orbiting Earth, greater than 47,000 in total; in keeping with a NASA statement, the spacecraft should fly by way of the layer through which essentially the most satellites orbit. To deal with that problem, mission personnel started assessing potential collisions every week upfront, as early as is useful.
“The additional you are predicting into the long run, the extra unsure you might be about the place an object goes to be,” Dolan Highsmith, chief engineer for the Conjunction Evaluation Danger Evaluation group at NASA’s Goddard House Flight Middle in Maryland, which evaluates potential collisions for NASA’s uncrewed spacecraft, mentioned in a press release.
Mission operators had designed a plan which allowed them to conduct a small engine burn yesterday night that may transfer the spacecraft’s closest method by both two or 4 seconds to forestall a collision.
“That is sufficient to keep away from anyone factor that might be in the way in which,” Kevin E. Berry, Lucy’s flight dynamics staff lead at Goddard, mentioned within the assertion.
Satellites aren’t the one risk Lucy should navigate; the spacecraft will dip far sufficient into Earth’s atmosphere to start experiencing drag, particularly given the floor space of its two solar arrays, which every span 24 ft (7 meters).
And people arrays are extra weak than anticipated as a result of a glitch within the system that deployed these arrays shortly after launch saved one from absolutely unfolding, leaving the array resembling a pie with a very slender slice lacking. As of NASA’s latest update, in June, mission personnel had been nonetheless contemplating making an attempt extra fixes after the flyby. As a protecting measure, the mission staff organized for Lucy to go Earth about 30 miles (50 km) larger than initially deliberate to scale back the quantity of drag the spacecraft experiences.
Though Lucy is flying previous Earth out of necessity, scientists are additionally taking the chance to snap just a few photographs of the moon because the spacecraft heads again into space. The photographs will assist them calibrate the spacecraft’s devices on identified terrain earlier than the essential Trojan flybys.Â
“I am particularly excited by the ultimate few photographs that Lucy will take of the moon,” John Spencer, appearing deputy challenge scientist on the Southwest Analysis Institute in Colorado, mentioned in a press release. “Counting craters to know the collisional historical past of the Trojan asteroids is essential to the science that Lucy will perform, and this would be the first alternative to calibrate Lucy’s skill to detect craters by evaluating it to earlier observations of the moon by different space missions.”
As soon as previous the moon, Lucy will proceed trekking out into deep space, farther from Earth than it is ever been.
Lucy will fly previous Earth once more in 2024 earlier than trekking out to the Trojan asteroids; a 3rd flyby in 2030 will put together the spacecraft for its last goal, a binary asteroid referred to as Patroclus and Menoetius.
Electronic mail Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or comply with her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.Â
