NASA’s Lucy mission sets course for Dinkinesh

May 19. (EUROPE PRESS) –

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has adjusted its trajectory to head toward its close encounter with the small main belt asteroid Dinkinesh.

The maneuver, which took place on May 9, changed the speed of the spacecraft by just 3.4 meters per second. Released in October 2021, This ten-year mission has as its objective a set of Trojan asteroids -which share an orbit- with Mars.

Although the spacecraft is currently traveling at approximately 19.4 kilometers per second, this small nudge is enough to bring the spacecraft nearly 65,000 kilometers closer to the asteroid. during the meeting planned for November 1, 2023.

Spaceship will fly just 425 kilometers from the small asteroid less than a kilometer in size, while traveling at a relative speed of 4.5 kilometers per second.

Lucy’s team will continue to monitor the trajectory of the spacecraft and will have further opportunities to adjust the flight path if necessary, reports NASA.

Lucy’s team is also continuing to analyze data collected from its spring instrument calibration campaign and making other preparations for the mission’s first asteroid encounter.

This encounter will provide a valuable test of spacecraft systems and procedures to ensure that Everything works as expected during the mission’s high-velocity asteroid encounters.