NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is getting an impromptu “fix” on its way to exploring Trojan asteroids. Last year, NASA launched the Lucy spacecraft designed to explore trapped Trojan asteroids near Lagrange points on Jupiter.
However a problem arose just 12 hours after launch – one of the large solar arrays designed to generate power from the increasingly distant sun failed to fully deploy and latch. Now, NASA has announced that a team was able to solve the problem enough to keep the mission going – thanks to several clever tricks, Engadget reports.
Hours after the problem was first discovered, NASA assembled an anomaly response team with members of the science mission who lead the Southwest Research Institute, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Northrop Grumman, the spacecraft builder.
Since there was no camera aimed at the solar arrays, the team had to figure out another way to find the problem. To this end, they launched the spacecraft’s thrusters to measure any anomalous vibrations, and created a detailed model assembly of the array’s motors to determine the stiffness of the array.
They finally discovered that the rope designed to pull the array open may have broken its spool.
The team quickly refined two possible solutions, one of which was simply to use the array as it was, because it was still generating 90 percent of the expected power.
The other was to try to pull the rope more forcefully using the spare post motor in addition to the primary motor, hoping to allow it to wind more and engage the locking mechanism.
Both engines were not designed to run at the same time, so the team designed them to test potential outcomes and potential ripple effects.
After months of simulation they decided to go ahead with the two-engine option. They operated both the primary and backup solar diffusion motors simultaneously seven times, and succeeded in opening and tensioning the array.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t close enough to stick, NASA said, but now it “is subject to significantly more stress, making it stable enough to power the spacecraft as needed for mission operations.” It is now “ready and able” to complete the next deadline, and get a boost from Earth’s gravity in October 2022.
It is due to reach its first asteroid target in 2025.