CNN
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This week, a spaceship named Lucy will be in the sky, alone without the diamonds.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft It will circle the Earth and be a few hundred miles from us on the way to the distant Trojan asteroid, Jupiter.
The spacecraft will pass 220 miles above the Earth’s surface on Sunday morning. According to a NASA press release.
Some lucky observers will be able to spot Lucy from Earth, NASA said.
The ejection of the spacecraft from the asteroid will be visible from Western Australia at around 6:55 am EDT. But it will be out of sight after a few minutes. At 7:26 am EDT it should be visible in the western United States, assuming the sky is clear and sky lovers have the right binoculars.
Approaching Earth would require the spacecraft to navigate an area dense with satellites and debris. NASA has implemented special measures to prevent Lucy from getting on her flight.
“The Lucy team has prepared two different maneuvers,” said in a statement Coralee Adam, deputy leader of the KinetX Aerospace navigation team, Lucy. “If the team detects that Lucy is in danger of colliding with a satellite or debris, then – 12 hours before the closest approach to Earth – the spacecraft will do one of these things, changing the closest approach time by two blocks. or four seconds.
“This is a small fix, but enough to avoid a potentially catastrophic collision.”
Lucy’s 12-year mission begins in October 2021. The objective of this mission is to explore the swarms of Trojan asteroids orbiting Jupiter. Asteroids have never been directly observed before; The image above shows an illustration of Lucy approaching the asteroid. But if all goes to plan, Lucy will provide the first high-resolution images of the asteroid.
The spacecraft will swing close to Earth three times during its mission. Entering Earth’s orbit helps give Lucy the boost she needs to continue her journey.
“The last time we saw the spacecraft, it was confined to the payload tunnel in Florida,” said Hal Levison, Lucy’s principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, referring to the conical nose guard used. during launch. “It’s great to be able to stay here in Colorado and see the spaceship again.
“And this time Lucy will be in heaven.”
