NASA spacecraft "Lucy" completes first gravity assist maneuver

Image courtesy of NASA

 NASA's "Lucy" spacecraft completed the first of its three gravity assist maneuvers today at 5:41 AM as it swung around Earth en route to study the Trojan asteroids surrounding Jupiter. The next gravity assist maneuver is scheduled to occur in December 2024.

Launched on October 16, 2021 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Lucy is an unmanned spacecraft created with the purpose of studying the surface composition of five asteroids orbiting Jupiter and one within the Main Belt. Scientists believe these Trojan asteroids hold clues to the formation of the universe due to their individually wildly different surface compositions.

Lucy carries four instruments to achieve this task, the Lucy LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI), the Lucy Thermal Emission Spectrometer (L’TES) and L'Ralph, a combination of a Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) and a Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array spectrometer (LEISA).

Lucy hopes to have its first asteroid encounter in 2025 with the Main Belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, named for the anthropologist whose renowned work on human origins is also where the spacecraft takes its name.

Chandra telescope enhances Webb images

Images courtesy of NASA

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory telescope has combined its X-ray data with the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) infrared images to created enhanced versions of Webb's shots of (clockwise from right) the Cartwheel Galaxy, Carina Nebula, the SMACS 0723.3–7327 galaxy cluster and the four galaxies within Stephan's Quintet. The data has revealed new information that showcases the combined power of both telescopes.

In the Cartwheel Galaxy image, Chandra's data (blue and purple) showcases the various gases involved within the birth of stars scattered throughout the galaxy as well as its two companion galaxies.

In the Carina Nebula image, Chandra (pink) allows scientists to more easily determine the age of the stars within the nebula due to younger stars appearing brighter in X-ray imaging than older stars. The purple haze near the top of the images is believed to be diffused gases from three particularly hot and dense stars within the nebula not captured by Webb.

SMACS 0723.3–7327 is revealed to contain not only the hundreds of the individual galaxies within it but also a cloud of gas (blue) with a mass 100 trillion times that of our own sun with temperatures reaching tens of millions of degrees fahrenheit.

Four of the galaxies within Stephan's Quintet are caught by gravity in what is described as a "cosmic dance" by scientists and Chandra showcases the effects of this dance. Specifically, the data (light blue), also combined with the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope's (SST) (red, green, blue) reveals a shock wave heating gases to tens of millions of degrees as the galaxies pass through eachother.

Webb's current position can be tracked on NASA's "Where is Webb" page.

Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket launches successfully

 Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket launched succesfully at 1:00 A.M. today from Vandenberg Air Force Base after multiple previous attempts in September were scrubbed due to various issues.

The test flight, dubbed "To the Black", carried the Serenity and TechEdSat 15 cubesats and six smaller "pocketqube" sats contained within a PICOBUS into a 300 kilometer orbit around Earth.

A 2-stage rocket capable of carrying a payload of up to 1170 kg into orbit, Alpha aims to be "the most reliable smallsat launcher available" by combining established rocketry methods with modern advances in technology and materials to create a reliable and cost-effective launch platform.

Firefly Aerospace initally attempted to launch the Alpha in September 2021. However, due to an engine failure, the rocket spun out of control and exploded. 

Due to the success of the test flight, Firefly Aerospace is likely to perform one more Alpha launch this year, carrying several more NASA cubesats into orbit due to a contract the company won in December 2020.