Thrusters supplied by
This flyby was a critical dress rehearsal for Lucy's primary mission of making the first-ever close-up observations of Trojan-belt asteroids starting in 2027.
Lucy passed within 265 miles of Dinkinesh while zipping along at about 10,000 miles per hour relative to the tiny asteroid. To make continuous observations during such a close pass, the spacecraft had to perform an about face as it came and went, a maneuver that
'Our precision thrusters enabled such tight, reliable targeting that the spacecraft was able to fly within 300 miles of a tiny, half-mile wide asteroid that is 300 million miles away on the other side of the sun,' Cahill said. 'The more precise the approach, the better the data. And this is only a dress rehearsal for the primary targets out in Jupiter's orbit.'
Launched in
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Weighing 3,300 pounds fully fueled and measuring nearly 52 feet across from the outermost arcs of its twin circular solar panels, Lucy is taking a circuitous route to the Trojan belt that includes two gravity-assist Earth flybys. Dinkinesh is the first of two main-belt asteroids that Lucy will encounter along the way.
Between the close encounters, Lucy will make multiple trajectory correction maneuvers aided by the MR-106L engines.
'The performance of our engines during these maneuvers will directly contribute to how long the mission ends up being,' Cahill added. 'The goal here is to use as little propellant as possible and make maneuvers as precise as can be so we can open up new opportunities to extend the mission and expand on the science they're getting out of this primary mission.'
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