NASA says that a solar array on the NASA Lucy mission may yield enough to allow the mission to continue its asteroid-hunting mandate.
The agency said it has made significant progress in dealing with a solar array on the Lucy mission that failed to fully deploy after it was launched. Engineers have been working on the problem for a long time.
Lucy has two solar panels that are designed to unfold like a fan. One of theArrays faced an issue in deployment but is crucial in providing power to the mission The second array was less than 350 degrees deployed due to an issue with a lanyard.
Lucy will visit eight asteroids.
The Lucy team was able to get the array to between 353 degrees and 358 degrees open. It would take full success to reach that degree.
Agency officials said in a post that the array is under a lot of tension. The mission team is growing more confident that the solar array will meet the needs of the mission.
Lucy is moving into a location where it can't easily receive commands from its humans back on Earth, so NASA needs to stop assisting her.
NASA officials wrote that due to thermal constraints caused by the Earth, the satellite will not be able to communicate with the Earth for several months.
Engineers can use a low-gain antenna to stay in touch with Lucy, but that transmitter can process less data. According to NASA, full communications should be resumed in October. On October 16th, Lucy will fly by Earth to pick up speed for its journey to nine asteroids, which will be at the same distance as Jupiter.
The officials wrote in the post that NASA may try to deploy the solar array further if necessary.
Lucy completed a trajectory correction maneuver.
The array needs to be close to full deployment in order to be able to generate enough electricity at Jupiter, where the sun is not as bright. The average distance from the sun to the planet is five times that of Earth.
Lucy is going to be the first craft to visit the asteroids of Jupiter. The remnants of the early solar system can be found in these little worlds.
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