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