Gravitational assists are marvels of orbital mechanics. Usually, they are done for a combination of fuel (i.e., cost) savings and speed, as it is sometimes faster to take multiple trips around planets in the inner solar system to reach locations in the outer solar system more quickly. Lucy recently made such a maneuver on its … Continue reading 'Lucy Zipped Past Earth to get a Gravitational Assist Towards Jupiter’s Trojans'
But to get there, the probe has to swing close enough to Earth that it was actually closer to the ground than the ISS typically is. So close, in fact, that if you happened to be in Western Australia on October 16th, you could have potentially seen Lucy with the naked eye for a few minutes around 7 PM.
Luckily, those observers didn’t see a fireball, as Lucy managed to avoid the numerous obstacles in its path. That required a bit of help from the US’s newly minted Space Force, which monitors crowded orbital paths, such as the some that Lucy had to maneuver through. Constant communication between the teams was vital as the probe made it through the densely packed orbital plane.
If there had been a potential collision, the team running Lucy had one of two options: either kick the thrusters on so the probe would pass by the potential collision either two or four seconds before or sooner. That might not sound like a large window, but, for perspective, a four-second speed-up would mean that Lucy was 48 kilometers away from the potential collision when it would have happened.
However, there will be one more such maneuver – in 2024, Lucy will get another boost from its home planet on its way out to the outer solar system. It might not be as spectacular or visible as this one, but it serves the same purpose – to go where no probe has gone before.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Carly Simon mourns sisters, Lucy and Joanna, who died 1 day apart after both battled cancerCarly Simon is mourning the death of her two older sisters, Lucy and Joanna Simon, who died one day apart after both had been battling cancer.
Read more »
Carly Simon Honors Sisters Joanna & Lucy Simon In Poignant StatementPop superstar Carly Simon paid tribute to her sisters – opera singer Joanna Simon and Broadway composer Lucy Simon – who each died of cancer last week within one day of the other. In a …
Read more »
Carly Simon 'Filled With Sorrow' After Sisters Die One Day Apart“Their loss will be long and haunting,” singer says in statement after the deaths of Joanna and Lucy Simon
Read more »
Carly Simon pays tribute to sisters who died of cancer one day apart: 'I am filled with sorrow'Carly Simon's two sisters, acclaimed mezzo-soprano and Emmy-winning TV correspondent Joanna Simon and composer Lucy Simon, died within a day of each other last week.
Read more »
Carly Simon Pays Tribute to Her Sisters After Their Deaths One Day Apart from CancerThe legendary singer lost oldest sister Joanna on Wednesday to thyroid cancer, and sister Lucy on Thursday to breast cancer (via toofab)
Read more »