NASA’s Lucy probe is scheduled to pass its first asteroid this year, testing its novel technology for observing such research targets. This was announced by the US space agency and explained that it was about the 700 m large asteroid called 1999 VD57. On its previous orbit, the NASA probe would have flown past it at a distance of about 65,000 km, after a series of maneuvers it should now be only 450 km. The flyby is scheduled for November 1st, the first flyby of an asteroid was actually planned for 2025.
Ideal test object
Lucy’s route to 1999 VD75
The asteroid was found by the astronomer Raphael Marschall from the Nice Observatory. Among a total of 500,000 celestial bodies, it really stood out with its favorable orbit, he explains. It will now be used to test the novel tracking system with which the probe targets the visited asteroids. This works differently than previous technology, in which many photos of the approximate region in which they are located were taken because of the uncertainty about the exact position of such speeding objects. Lucy has an “innovative and complex” system, which automatically tracks the asteroid during such a visit. You will not only be able to take better, but also more photos with it.
Named after an important fossil of the human ancestor Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy has been on her 12-year mission since October 2021. She is said to visit and research several so-called Jupiter Trojans. These are asteroids that precede or follow the gas giant on the same orbit. The primitive celestial bodies are regarded as fossils of planet formation. With Donaldjohanson, Lucy is also supposed to pass an asteroid in the main belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Originally, flybys of only seven asteroids were planned, but satellites were found around two of them. With 1999 VD57, flybys of 10 objects are already planned.
The Trojans (green) compared to the orbits of the inner planets and Jupiter (orange)
The probe gets its energy from two large solar collectors, which are supposed to supply enough electricity for the operation of the probe and the scientific instruments even when they are far away from the sun – on the Jupiter orbit. After takeoff, she was supposed to unfold them completely, but that didn’t work, one of them didn’t snap into place. After that, NASA tried for a long time to fully develop it. A few days ago announced the US space agencythat efforts will be suspended for the time being. Sufficient power would be supplied and the experiments would have worked best close to the sun. If she returns there, a decision will be made on possible further attempts.
(mho)
