CNN
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This Sunday, a spacecraft called Lucy will be in the sky — just without diamonds.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will orbit Earth, locking in a few hundred miles from us on its journey to Jupiter’s distant Trojan asteroids.
The spacecraft will pass 220 miles above Earth’s surface on Sunday morning, according to a NASA press release.
Some lucky observers will be able to spot Lucy from Earth, according to NASA.
The spacecraft ejecting from the asteroid will be visible from Western Australia around 6:55 a.m. EDT. But it will disappear from view after a few minutes. At 7:26AM EDT it should be visible in the western US – assuming clear skies and skywatchers have a good pair of binoculars.
Approaching Earth will force the spacecraft to navigate through a dense region of satellites and debris. NASA puts in place special measures to prevent Lucy from colliding with anything during her flight.
“Team Lucy prepared two different maneuvers,” said Coralie Adam, assistant team leader for Lucy on KinetX Aerospace’s navigation team, in the statement. “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, changing the time of the closest approach by two or four seconds.
“It’s a small correction, but enough to avoid a potentially catastrophic collision.”
The 12-year-old Lucy mission was launched in October 2021. The goal of the mission is to explore swarms of Trojan asteroids orbiting Jupiter. Asteroids have never been directly observed before; The image above shows an illustration of Lucy approaching an asteroid. But if all goes as planned, Lucy will present the first high-resolution images of asteroids.
The spacecraft will pass Earth three times during its mission. Entering Earth’s orbit helps give Lucy the boost she needs to continue her walk.
“The last time we saw the spacecraft, it was trapped in the payload gallery in Florida,” said Hal Levison, principal investigator at Lucy in Boulder, Colorado, in reference to the protective nose cone used during launches. “It’s exciting to be able to stand here in Colorado and see the spacecraft again.
“And this time, Lucy will be in heaven.”