Just a few hour into its 12 - yr journey to Jupiter ’s Trojan asteroids , the Lucy spacecraft ran into a problem . One of its solar regalia refusedto fully undefendable and mission controllers have been working on the problemever since . There ’s good news program to report , however , as the squad seem tohave made a breakthrough .
SinceLucy ’s launchin October 2021 , NASA engine driver have beenattempting to amply spread out and latch the spacecraft ’s stubborn solar regalia . After seven trials , the solar array is now between 353 degrees and 357 level open out of a full 360 degree . It ’s still not a perfect circle , but NASA says this configuration is good enough for Lucy to carry on with its missionary work .
Lucy is tasked with an unprecedented mission toexplore the Trojan asteroids , two group of rocky body that run and follow Jupiter as it orbits the Sun . In ordination to survive its long journeying through space , Lucy is fit out with two monolithic solar arrays on either side , each span 22 - feet wide ( 7 meters ) . The arrays were tucked in during Lucy ’s initial ride to blank space on board an Atlas volt Eruca sativa and designed to after unfurl like a pair of massive hired hand fans . During deployment , however , one of Lucy’ssolar arrays got stuckat 347 degrees . land controller worried that the array would be further damaged when it came clock time for the spacecraft to evoke its chief engine .
Lucy is equipped with a pair of 22-feet-wide solar arrays on either side.Photo: NASA
Lucy ’s anomaly reply team came together within 60 minutes of the malfunction , work out together to hail up with a plan . “ We have an fantastically gifted team , but it was important to give them meter to figure out what encounter and how to move onward , ” Hal Levison , Lucy ’s main investigator from Southwest Research Institute , suppose in astatement . “ Fortunately , the spacecraft was where it was speculate to be , functioning nominally , and — most importantly — dependable . We had meter . ”
The team brainstorm together for months and lastly came up with two possible solutions : Either keep the regalia at 347 degrees or get draw on the raiment ’s laniard by using the ballistic capsule ’s backup motor . But team member had to first value the peril relate with both choice and proceed consequently . They manufacture a replica of the backup motor and tested the replication beyond its limit on the ground to see how it would handle the unfurling sweat in space .
On May 9 , mission restraint overlook Lucy to deploy the raiment , running its elemental and backup motors at the same time for a serial publication of shortsighted intervals to avoid overheat . The team then intermit to canvass the data before a second attempt on May 12 , when the same instruction were channelize again . After seven trials of pulling the lanyard during the months of May and June , Lucy ’s solar array is now between 353 degrees and 357 degrees open . “ While the array is not fully latched , it is under substantially more tension , bring in it stable enough for the ballistic capsule to operate as need for missionary station operations , ” NASA write in a financial statement .
Lucy is gearing up for its first gravity assist in October 2022 , where it will fly past Earth for use the satellite ’s gravity to pull on the spacecraft , thereby changing its orbital trajectory beyond the arena of Mars . We ’re rooting for you , Lucy . Even if your array is a few degrees off .
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Discovery ProgramOuter spaceSpacecraftSpaceflightSpaceX Mars program
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