AP reports that on Wednesday, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft “encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its long journey to Jupiter.” The spacecraft “swooped past the pint-sized Dinkinesh, about 300 million miles (480 million kilometers) away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars.” It was “a quick hello,” according to NASA, “with the spacecraft zooming by at 10,000 mph (16,000 kph).” Lucy came “within 270 miles (435 kilometers) of Dinkinesh, testing its instruments in a dry run for the bigger and more alluring asteroids ahead.” Dinkinesh is “just a half-mile (1 kilometer) across, quite possibly the smallest of the space rocks on Lucy’s tour.” Lucy’s main targets “are the so-called Trojans, swarms of unexplored asteroids out near Jupiter that are considered to be time capsules from the dawn of the solar system.” The spacecraft “will swing past eight Trojans believed to be up to 10 to 100 times bigger than Dinkinesh.” It’s due to “zip past the final two asteroids in 2033.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Tag: trip
Wright Electric Demonstrates Inverter for Future Electric Propulsion System
Aviation International News reports that Wright Electric “has completed what it says will be a key element in its plans to develop an electric propulsion system that could potentially power a single-aisle airliner to enter commercial service by 2030.” The company “reported late last week that it has successfully demonstrated the inverter that will convert DC power from batteries to the AC power that will drive electric motors.” The company now will work “on integrating the inverter with a 2 MW motor that the Wright team is developing in-house. The company plans next year to conduct high-altitude chamber testing with the configuration as part of the process of qualifying it for flight testing.” Wright Electric CEO Jeff Engler “told AIN that the company is planning for a program launch in 2024.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
OSIRIS-REx Begins Trip Back to Earth
Reuters reports that on Monday, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began its trip back to Earth after its sample collection mission on asteroid Bennu. The trip “back to Earth will take about two years.” NASA “says samples will be distributed to research laboratories worldwide, but 75% of the samples will be preserved at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for future generations to study with technologies not yet created.”
Full Story (Reuters)