Lucy’s solar panel problem could be due to strap
According to the engineering team for the Lucy asteroid mission, they now think the incomplete deployment of one of the probe’s solar panels was caused by a strap.
The joint Anomaly Response Team has been studying the array using an engineering model. Initial tests indicate that the lanyard that pulls out the solar array may not have completed the process successfully; however, it is still uncertain what caused this condition. The team is conducting more tests to determine if this is indeed the case, and what the root cause might be.
An attempt to characterize the array deployment by attempting to move it would occur no earlier than Nov. 16.
Meanwhile, they have been turning on Lucy’s instruments one by one, with everything functioning as planned, except for that one solar panel. The panel however is a serious concern, as the spacecraft is heading out to the orbit of Jupiter, where it will need every inch of solar panel surface area to get enough power to operate. At the moment it appears the panel is deployed somewhere between 75% to 95%.
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According to the engineering team for the Lucy asteroid mission, they now think the incomplete deployment of one of the probe’s solar panels was caused by a strap.
The joint Anomaly Response Team has been studying the array using an engineering model. Initial tests indicate that the lanyard that pulls out the solar array may not have completed the process successfully; however, it is still uncertain what caused this condition. The team is conducting more tests to determine if this is indeed the case, and what the root cause might be.
An attempt to characterize the array deployment by attempting to move it would occur no earlier than Nov. 16.
Meanwhile, they have been turning on Lucy’s instruments one by one, with everything functioning as planned, except for that one solar panel. The panel however is a serious concern, as the spacecraft is heading out to the orbit of Jupiter, where it will need every inch of solar panel surface area to get enough power to operate. At the moment it appears the panel is deployed somewhere between 75% to 95%.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
And this simple solar panel is like a toy compared to the origami on steroids known as JWST that is about to be launched. Cognizant engineers and managers: make sure your Maalox supply is well stocked.
Seems like we need to start including small robots with these probes that have Swiss Army-like end effectors that could help with diagnosing and then potentially correct such issues. The Galileo probe to Jupiter had a similar problem with the antenna where one of the spars failed to be released from its launch position which caused complete failure of the antenna. Fortunately, much of that mission could be salvaged by innovative uses of the small low-gain antenna and compression algorithms.
I suspect they will manage ways around this, much the same way they managed to work around the badly-deployed Galileo high-gain antenna.
That said, plutonium is the way to go for deep space missions. See also: Mars rovers.
I’ll say it again, why didn’t this thing have rectangular panels? Juno has them and it works fine, not counting that stuck valve. These circular panels are unnecessarily complicated. And once more my K. I. S. S. sensibilities are enraged. Time for more tea.
mpthompson suggested: “Seems like we need to start including small robots with these probes that have Swiss Army-like end effectors that could help with diagnosing and then potentially correct such issues.”
Sounds like we are giving up on reliability and depending upon a robot for repairing the results of our laziness. Unless there isn’t reliability for the robot and the mission is harmed or lost anyway.