NASA's asteroid-hunter Lucy makes exceptionally close flyby of Earth


Devdiscourse News Desk | California | Updated: 17-10-2022 09:14 IST | Created: 17-10-2022 09:14 IST
NASA's asteroid-hunter Lucy makes exceptionally close flyby of Earth
Image Credit: Twitter (@Dr_ThomasZ)

NASA's Lucy, the first mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, successfully completed its first Earth gravity assist on October 16, passing just 220 miles/350 km above our planet's surface.

The Oct. 16 gravity assist was one of three the spacecraft will rely on to catapult itself to its deep-space targets. The close approach placed lucy on a new trajectory for a two-year orbit and provided the spacecraft with some of the orbital energy it needs to travel to this never-before-visited population of asteroids.

The spacecraft will return for a second gravity assist in 2 years, which will give it the energy it needs to cross the main asteroid belt, where it will observe asteroid Donaldjohanson, and then travel into the leading Trojan asteroid swarm, according to NASA.

In 2030, Lucy will return to Earth for a third gravity assist to re-target the spacecraft for a rendezvous with the Patroclus-Menoetius binary asteroid pair in the trailing Trojan asteroid swarm.

During the Oct. 16 flyby, Lucy was very close to Earth - lower even than the International Space Station - making it clearly visible to observers on the ground.

Lucy embarked on a 12-year-journey to study multiple Trojan asteroids up close on October 16, 2021. It is the first spacecraft to visit these remnants from the early solar system, helping scientists hone their theories on how the planets formed 4.5 billion years ago.

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