{"id":25999,"date":"2021-11-18T11:27:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T11:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=25999"},"modified":"2021-11-18T11:27:11","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T11:27:11","slug":"lucy-struggles-to-spread-its-solar-panels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2021\/11\/18\/lucy-struggles-to-spread-its-solar-panels\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucy struggles to spread its solar panels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The asteroid-investigating spacecraft is still generating power as it heads towards Jupiter<\/p>\n\n
Power for Lucy\u2019s 12-year mission to study the Trojan asteroids is supposed to be generated by its pair of solar arrays <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
Lucy, the <\/strong>NASA spacecraft that is bound for the two groups of Trojan asteroids on the same solar orbit as Jupiter, has yet to fully open its solar arrays. The spacecraft launched on 16 October at 09:34 UT and reached Earth orbit so precisely that no subsequent manoeuvres were needed. But when the solar panels deployed, 30 minutes later, only one of them unfurled completely and latched into place, while the other remained partially folded.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Even with one \u2018lame wing\u2019, Lucy is generating almost as much power as would be expected if both had deployed successfully. As such, the spacecraft is able to run all the on-board systems needed to begin its journey to the gas giant. As Lucy gets further away from the Sun, however, the solar panels will become less productive, and so NASA is keen to fix the issue.<\/p>\n\n
At the time of writing, NASA was still assessing the situation. As there is no way to visually inspect the spacecraft, the team has to move Lucy into different positions in respect to the Sun and measure how much electrical current the solar panels generate. By doing this they can deduce how far the array deployed before becoming stuck, helping them to understand what went wrong and how they might remedy it.<\/p>\n\n
Lucy is currently flying towards the Trojan asteroids, which are leftover remnants from when the Solar System formed. Over 12 years, the spacecraft will investigate one main-belt asteroid and seven Trojan asteroids, four in the leading \u2018Greek camp\u2019 and three in the trailing \u2018Trojan swarm\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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