The special probe will pass over the Earth around 4 a.m. in North America. She must observe the Trojan asteroids for almost twelve years.
This Sunday, October 16, the sound of lucy will pass in front of the earth on its first anniversary of launch. The spacecraft was launched in 2021, with the goal of traveling to the asteroids Jupiter’s Trojans by 2027. The goal would be to find clues about the formation of our solar system from these rocky satellites.
Lucy will fly over our planet at about 380 km from the ground and can be observed in North America at 4am. By passing Earth on the first anniversary of its launch, the probe will gain some of the orbital energy it needs to travel to this never-before-visited population of asteroids.
Trojan asteroids are trapped orbiting the sun at the same distance as Jupiter. These residues of the formation of planets – 4.5 billion years ago – number in the thousands. Lucy is currently one year into a twelve-year journey and will target the first group of celestial bodies in 2027-2028.
See you on October 23 to observe an asteroid
The spacecraft will be very close to earth this Sunday, even lower than the International Space Station, which means Lucy will pass through a region full of satellites and debris orbiting Earth. To ensure the safety of the spacecraft, at NASA has developed procedures to anticipate any potential danger and, if necessary, to perform a small maneuver to avoid a collision.
Unfortunately for French astronomy enthusiasts, it will be impossible to follow the passage of the probe. Nevertheless, the French Astronomical Association is asking for a helping hand in this mission to observe the asteroid Eurybate, on October 23, 2022 at 4 a.m.
Eventually, Lucy will have to study the trajectory of this asteroid about 60 kilometers in diameter, which is currently 600 million kilometers from us.
