NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Flyby Asteroid Dinkinesh At 10,000 MPH

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NASA's Lucy mission flyby asteroid Dinkinesh (aka 1999 VD57).  The spacecraft will zip by the Main Belt asteroid at 10,000 mph (16,093 kmh).   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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