NASA's Lucy Ride Will Approach Donaldjohanson's Asteroid Before Explore Asteroids With Jupiter's Similar Orbit

Wow Lucy will approach the asteroid (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA Lucy's spacecraft developed by NASA will now approach the second asteroid, Donaldjohanson. The small main belt asteroid is less than 80 million kilometers away.

According to NASA calculations, Lucy will approach Donaldjohanson within a few days, on April 20 at a distance of 960 kilometers. This exploration process is very important because Lucy will get bigger tasks in the future.

The drone has crossed the main belt of asteroid Dinkinesh and its satellite named Selam on November 1, 2023. The training was carried out to test Lucy's system during cross-flying, but NASA felt that the training was not enough.

Therefore, Lucy will conduct a second training with Donaldjohanson. If this research is successful, Lucy can carry out her main mission, namely exploring Trojan asteroids that have orbits similar to Jupiter's planets.

Lucy's approach to Donaldjohanson will be slightly different from exploration into Dinkinesh. Lucy will prepare for about 30 minutes before the approach by keeping her high-strength strengthening antenna away from Earth to stop communications.

After that, Lucy will rotate to keep her view of the asteroid Donaldjohanson and stop about 40 seconds before the closest approach. This is done so that sensitive instruments in his body are maintained from the sun.

Lucy will take advantage of the three science instruments she carries, namely high-resolution gray-scale imaging called L'LORRI, infrared color imaging and spectrometers called L'Ralph, and a far-infrared spectrometer called L'TES.

If the closest approach is achieved, Lucy will turn around and direct the array of her solar panels towards the Sun. After that, about an hour after the mission ends, Lucy will reconnect with the operations team on Earth.