Lucy's half-opened solar array won't interfere with its mission
(Southwest Research Institute)
The spaceship Lucy couldn’t open completely one of the solar panels, but it will not affect the progress of the scientific program, according to the mission team.
Nevertheless, an attempt to re-deploy the battery will be made at the end of April.
Lucy was launched into space last October to study seven Jupiter Trojan asteroids and one Main Belt asteroid.
Thanks to the mission, for the first time, scientists will see such bodies up close and will be able to test models of the processes that took place in the early solar system.
The station will study all asteroids from a flyby trajectory using cameras and spectrometers.
Shortly after launch, the station deployed two circular solar arrays, each 7.3 meters in diameter.
They are designed to unfold like a fan when folded. However, one of the batteries did not fully open - its end turned 347 instead of 360 degrees.
As a result, the electric power generated by solar panels amounted to a little more than 90% of the nominal.
On January 25, 2022, Lucy Program Manager Hal Levison spoke at a meeting of the Small Body Assessment Group (SBAG) about the results of the analysis of the situation with the solar array.
The cause of the problems was the loss of tension on the line pulled by the motor, which did not fully open and fix the position of the battery.
However, whether the battery is fully deployed or not, the problem will not affect the progress of the science program.
Engineers still have an option to try to restart the engine and re-deploy the battery at the end of April.
If this operation fails, Lucy will continue to fly anyway. In mid-December, the ship should make the first trajectory correction maneuver.
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