The group behind NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission is resuming work with the spacecraft to completely deploy and latch its second solar array after a latest profitable Earth flyby.
Lucy performed the first of three deliberate Earth flybys on Oct. 16, precisely a 12 months after its launch. Now the spacecraft has resumed high-data-rate communication with Earth and is working properly in space, in line with a Nov. 18 NASA update.
The group has additionally resumed attempting to finish the deployment of its 24-feet-wide (7 meters) solar arrays, as one of many pair didn’t totally unfold and latch within the days following launch.
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The spacecraft was instructed to level towards the sun and hearth its array deployment motors for a brief time frame on Nov. 7, in line with the NASA assertion. The operation noticed the array deploy just a little extra totally, however the array nonetheless didn’t latch open, so the solar wing nonetheless resembles a pie with a tiny slice lacking.
In accordance with the NASA replace, evaluation of the operation discovered a small vibration when the unlatched array interacted with the spacecraft’s angle controller that maintains the spacecraft’s place; that vibration hadn’t occurred throughout a earlier deployment try in June. The group decided that the vibration is simply too minor to pose a threat to the spacecraft, however is holding off from additional deployment makes an attempt whereas the angle controller is up to date.
The group doesn’t assume that the array challenge poses a risk to the 12-year-long tour of 9 asteroids, however getting the array totally deployed and latched would enhance confidence within the spacecraft’s efficiency, in line with the assertion.
Lucy’s science payloads bought a exercise through the latest Earth flyby — together with snapping enchanting images of the moon — and had been discovered to be functioning as anticipated. The gravity help maneuver additionally proved a superb second to check out the spacecraft’s methods and mission procedures, in line with the assertion.
The spacecraft is scheduled to make use of a second Earth flyby in 2024 to achieve sufficient velocity to go to a handful of Trojan asteroids orbiting at Lagrange level 4, forward of Jupiter in its orbit across the sun. After this, a last Earth flyby in 2030 will fling Lucy out towards just a few Trojans trailing Jupiter, at Lagrange level 5.
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