Mission engineers will keep a constant watch on NASA's Lucy as it prepares to swoop near Earth in October.
More than 47,000 satellites, debris, and other objects will be tracked by them. If Lucy collides with one of these objects, mission engineers will have to change the trajectory of the spaceship.
NASA experts say that the chances of a collision are increasing as the number of objects increases.
Since 1999, the International Space Station has dodged space debris 31 times.
"Especially for missions that fly low, like Lucy, that has to be part of the consideration nowadays," said Dr. Highsmith, chief engineer for the Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis group. The group decides the likelihood of a collision between NASA's robotic vehicle and Earth. The Johnson Space Center in Houston does the same thing.
Lucy was launched in October of 2021. It will be the first time that the remnants from the early solar system will be visited by a craft.
Lucy will arrive at the USC in the year 2027. One of the three missions will rely on the gravity assist to propel it to its destinations.
Lucy will travel 220 miles above the surface when it comes closest to Earth. The craft will be visible to the naked eye from western Australia for a few minutes at 6:55 pm local time. The US Space Force's 18th Space Control Squadron is in charge of monitoring Lucy's journey down. NASA can be helped by the squadron.
Lucy was analyzed a week before the Earth approach. Highsmith said that starting the process any earlier would make collision predictions useless.
When trying to anticipate the future, it's difficult to determine the positions of the satellites. Future solar activity is hard to predict because the Sun plays a major role in pulling or pushing objects. The Sun's activity and how much radiation it shoots out affect atmosphere density and how much friction will pull on a spaceship.
The closer the assessment is, the better. Lucy's location is sent to the Space Force squadron every day. If the squadron decides that Lucy could collide with something, Highsmith's group will calculate the likelihood of a collision and work with the mission team to move the spaceship.
With such a high value mission, you really need to make sure that you have the ability to get out of the way.
Lucy navigation engineers have two options in case of an emergency. The craft is travelling about 12 km per second and requires engine burns to speed it up. Lucy's closest approach to Earth can be moved by two or four seconds.
Kevin E. Berry is the lead of Lucy's flight dynamics team at NASA.
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