NASA's Lucy spacecraft skimmed Earth's atmosphere early Saturday morning, flying lower than the International Space Station. The mission launched exactly a year ago.
passed over the Earth's atmosphere this morning on the first anniversary of its launch. It was lower than the International Space Station – just 220 miles above the Earth's surface – passing through satellites and debris and using procedures to avoid any potential collision.
The satellite was first visible to skywatchers in Western Australia before disappearing into the Earth's shadow. The launch clock, showing a digital display for NASA's Lucy spacecraft for a mission to study the Trojan asteroids in the outer solar system, as the Kennedy Space Center press site prepares for launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. October 15, 2021. The 12-year-long mission, which launch on Oct. 16 of last year, is the first mission to the Jupiter asteroids.NASA said the first gravity assist will place Lucy on a new trajectory for a two-year orbit, before it returns for another assist that gives Lucy the energy to cross the main asteroid belt. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard is seen in this 2 minute and 30 second exposure photograph as it launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.The spacecraft will pass Eurybates, Queta, Polymele, Leucus and Orus. A close-up view of NASA’s Lucy spacecraft secured on a rotation stand inside the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, on Sept. 1, 2021. Lucy is scheduled to launch no earlier than Saturday, Oct. 16, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Lucy's third gravity assist is targeted for 2030 which will send it near the Patroclus-Menoetius binary asteroid pair in the trailing Trojan asteroid swarm.
Please follow us on Google to support us United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Lucy spacecraft slingshot around Earth on Sunday: how to see itNASA’s Lucy spacecraft, on its way to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids Once at the rocky location the craft will explore the region
Read more »
NASA's Lucy to fly past thousands of objects for Earth gravity assistMission engineers will track NASA's Lucy spacecraft nonstop as it prepares to swoop near Earth on Oct. 16 to use this planet's gravity to set itself on a course toward the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
Read more »
Space Sustainability: NASA Funds Projects to Study Orbital DebrisNASA is sponsoring research proposals from three university-based teams over the course of the next year to examine the economic, social, and regulatory concerns related to space sustainability as part of its efforts to address orbital debris. Human-made objects orbiting Earth that no longer serv
Read more »
A NASA spacecraft will swing by Earth on Sunday | CNNThis Sunday, a spacecraft called Lucy will be in the sky -- just without diamonds.
Read more »
NASA's Lucy spacecraft swings by Earth on its way to Trojans | Digital TrendsThis weekend, a few lucky observers were able to see NASA's Lucy spacecraft as it performed an Earth flyby before heading back out into space.
Read more »