Still no joy for Lucy’s stuck solar array, NASA is giving up for now - Digital Trends

NASA has announced it volition not beryllium making immoderate further attempts to latch the star array of its Lucy spacecraft, astatine slightest for now. Launched successful October 2021 connected a ngo to sojourn the Trojan asteroids successful the orbit of Jupiter, Lucy had problems deploying 1 of its 2 circular arrays, and assorted attempts to code the contented implicit the past twelvemonth person not managed to hole the occupation entirely. However, NASA says that the spacecraft should beryllium capable to run connected its ngo arsenic planned.

Illustration of NASA’s Lucy spacecraft making a flyby of Earth. NASA

The 2 arrays needed to beryllium folded up portion the spacecraft was launched, past deployed successful a clock-like mode erstwhile the conveyance was successful space. One of the arrays deployed arsenic planned, but the different 1 failed to unfurl each of the way, and truthful did not latch into place. Engineers managed to deploy the array astir of the mode by using 2 motors to tug hard connected the lanyard that pulled the array into place. That got the array deployed to betwixt 353 and 357 degrees unfastened retired of a full of 360 degrees.

However, the squad had to pause its attempts to further deploy the array erstwhile it detected a flimsy vibration betwixt the array and the remainder of the spacecraft that had them concerned. Now, NASA has decided that further efforts to deploy the array are improbable to bash immoderate good, truthful it won’t beryllium making immoderate much attempts for now.

“Using engineering models calibrated by spacecraft data, the squad estimates that the star array is implicit 98% deployed, and it is beardown capable to withstand the stresses of Lucy’s 12-year mission,” NASA writes.

The array has been generating capable star powerfulness for the ngo adjacent successful its unlatched state, but 1 interest was that vibrations from the spacecraft firing its thrusters could origin harm to the array. So erstwhile Lucy made a flyby of Earth past year the squad chose to set its people to lessen the atmospheric resistance it experienced.

As the spacecraft is present moving distant from the sun, it volition beryllium getting colder which volition marque immoderate attempts to latch the array little productive. The large trial for Lucy volition travel successful February 2024, erstwhile it volition marque different attack of Earth and occurrence its main motor for the archetypal time. The squad tin past measure whether the array tin grip the forces progressive oregon if they volition request to marque further interventions.

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