• 4 months ago
NASA's Lucy mission flyby asteroid Dinkinesh (aka 1999 VD57).

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Produced, Edited, and Narrated by: David Ladd (AIMM)
Animations by: Walt Feimer (KBRWyle) and Jonathan North (KBRWyle)
Visualizations by: Kel Elkins (USRA)
Music provided by Universal Production Music: "Pioneer" - Lorenzo Castellarin
Transcript
00:00 On November 1, 2023, NASA's Lucy spacecraft will fly by a small main-belt asteroid named
00:08 Dinkinesh.
00:09 This flyby was added to Lucy's list of targets in January 2023.
00:14 There will now be 10 asteroids that the Lucy mission will explore on its record-breaking
00:18 tour.
00:20 Dinkinesh will be the smallest main-belt asteroid to have ever been well-imaged by a spacecraft,
00:26 registering at only about a half-mile in size.
00:30 The primary purpose of this encounter is to test the spacecraft's terminal tracking system,
00:35 which will keep Lucy's instruments pointing at the asteroid as it flies by at 10,000 miles
00:40 per hour.
00:41 This test may prove crucial to the overall success of the mission.
00:46 Even with the best Earth-based observations of these distant objects, there will still
00:49 be some uncertainty about precisely where each target will be as Lucy approaches it.
00:55 During its journey, Lucy will utilize its LELORI instrument for optical navigation to
01:00 improve that knowledge.
01:01 But uncertainties as large as 100 miles may still remain.
01:06 If nothing was done, the science instruments could completely miss the asteroid during the
01:10 closest approach.
01:13 It's for this reason that Lucy uses the terminal tracking system to image the Trojan targets
01:18 in the final hours of an approach, and to autonomously update the spacecraft's onboard
01:23 knowledge of the location of the asteroid in space.
01:26 This, in turn, allows the instruments to aim with precision, which will facilitate better
01:32 imaging and measurement of these small bodies.
01:37 The Dinkinesh asteroid presents the perfect opportunity to test this system.
01:42 The geometry of this encounter, particularly the angle that the spacecraft approaches the
01:47 asteroid relative to the Sun, is very similar to the mission's planned Trojan asteroid encounters.
01:52 This allows NASA to essentially carry out a dress rehearsal under similar conditions,
01:57 well in advance of the spacecraft's main scientific targets.
02:01 It's also a full year and a half earlier than the already planned Donald Johanson asteroid
02:05 encounter, which will serve as a more intricate and complex test of the spacecraft's systems
02:10 and instruments.
02:13 And since Dinkinesh is much smaller than any of the Trojan asteroids that Lucy will be
02:17 collecting data on, this test is meant to challenge the terminal tracking system's
02:22 capabilities.
02:23 It's likely that the system will lock onto Dinkinesh for only a few minutes before closest
02:27 approach, compared to the hour or more it will have for the Trojan targets.
02:32 So, no matter the end result, this flyby will provide Lucy's science team and flight engineers
02:39 with important insights into how the tracking system can function.
02:43 After the encounter with Dinkinesh, Lucy's orbit around the Sun will bring it back towards
02:47 Earth for its second gravity assist in December 2024.
02:52 That assist will send the spacecraft off to meet its main objectives among the Trojan
02:56 asteroids.
02:59 While the primary purpose of the Dinkinesh encounter is an engineering test, the data
03:03 collected may also provide insight on the relationship between the main belt asteroids
03:08 and near-Earth asteroids.
03:11 It's an exciting addition to Lucy's groundbreaking mission.
03:13 [Music]
03:20 [Music]
03:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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