Lucy will check out the Jupiter Trojan asteroids– believed to be “fossils of planet formation.” Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
< period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" > NASA‘sLucy spacecraft is set to zip the asteroidDinkinesh onNovember 1, marking its very first asteroid encounter.The flyby will evaluateLucy’s terminal tracking system and will momentarily disrupt interaction withEarth (************ )
NASA’sLucy spacecraft is on track for its very first asteroid encounter onNovember 1.Lucy’s optical navigation group has actually validated that the current trajectory correction maneuver on September29 properly set the spacecraft on course for its flyby of the little primary belt asteroidDinkineshThe spacecraft is prepared for to pass around265 miles(425 km) from the asteroid at12:54 p.m. < period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>EDT</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>EDT is an abbreviation for Eastern Daylight Time, the time zone for the eastern coast of the United States and Canada when observing daylight saving time (spring/summer). It is four hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, and the Kennedy Space Center are in the Eastern Time Zone (ET).</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" > EDT
On October 28, the group sent out the spacecraft what is called the last understanding upgrade, a plan of information with the most updated info about the relative positions of the spacecraft and asteroid. This dataset is exact enough to direct the spacecraft for almost all the half a million miles (800,000 km) that presently different Lucy and Dinkinesh.
On November 1, 2023, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will zip the little Main Belt asteroid Dinkinesh (formerly called 1999 VD57). This asteroid flyby was contributed to Lucy’s list of targets in January2023 Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Tracking and Monitoring Systems
About an hour before the spacecraft’s closest technique, when it’s around 10,000 miles (16,000 km) from the asteroid, Lucy will start actively keeping track of the position of Dinkinesh with its terminal tracking system, although due to Dinkinesh’s little size, the system is not anticipated to “lock-on” to the asteroid till simply a couple of minutes before closest technique. This system will autonomously reorient the spacecraft to keep the little asteroid within the field of vision of the science instruments as the spacecraft zooms by at around 10,000 miles per hour (4.5 m/s). This will be the very first usage of this terminal tracking system, and this flyby was developed to evaluate the system in genuine spaceflight conditions.
Communication and Data Downlink
As Lucy techniques Dinkinesh on the early morning of November 1, the spacecraft will turn into a position that allows it to continuously track the asteroid. This will move the high-gain antenna far from Earth, and the spacecraft will not have the ability to interact once again till it has actually finished the encounter series and reoriented itself so that the high-gain antenna is pointing back towardsEarth Imagery and other science and engineering information from the flyby will then be downlinked over the next weeks.
