Lucy in the Sky with a Stuck Solar Panel

NASA's Lucy launched on a mission to visit 8 of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, more asteroids than any mission in history. But one of Lucy's two solar panels failed to fully deploy and latch into place. The Trojan asteroids are located in Jupiter's L4 and L5 Lagrangian points. Lucy will fly past 7 Trojan asteroids and one main belt asteroid on a 12-year mission to understand the formation of our solar system.

00:00 Start
03:10 Magellan TV
03:54 Trojan Asteroids and Lagrangian Points
06:35 Lucy Mission
09:10 Trajectory
10:34 Instruments
13:04 Solar Panel Problem
15:09 Lucy in the Sky with a Diamond!




🚀 Help me improve the channel by joining the community on Patreon

🚀 Check out Launch Pad merchandise!

Disclaimer: Some of these links go to one of my websites and some are affiliate links where I'll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

✅ Let's connect:
For business inquiries - chris AT christianready DOT com
Twitter - @launchpadastro
Instagram - @launchpadastro

📭 c/o Christian Ready
P.O. Box 66
Westminster, MD 21158
United States
Earth

-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
Watch next: Solar Orbiter Discovers Surprising new Phenomenon in the Sun
-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-

[atomic_wait]

'attempt to redeploy the panel'
Ah, the old turn it off and back on again trick.

[willinwoods]

Your calm and clear narration is both engaging and easy to follow, which makes this another very watchable video on an amazingly interesting subject. Thank you!

[dogcarman]

It’s comforting to know that someone somewhere thinks decades ahead to make missions like this. We haven’t forgotten how to think ahead, we just refuse to… Science FTW.

[ratnamani]

As a Student of Anthropology, I
appreciate the Sweet Gesture in
Naming it after Lucy. 🙂

[mdavid]

That's quiet a journey. I hope the solar panel issues doesn't cripple the mission.

[bardock]

I stumbled upon your channel about a week ago and have been binging it with varying intensity since. I am blown away by the quality of your explanation and articulation of complex subjects as these are.
I just want to reiterate what you said about how enormous universe is and how powerful the forces that "operate" in it are. No matter how I try it's just incomprehensible.
Space: Where a "billion" of anything is rookie numbers.

[sorryham]

RTG's have a great safety record and are not really all that 'dangerous'. Indeed, one of the first ones launched (Nimbus B) way back in May of 1968 had its launch vehicle go off-course during ascent and was deliberately destroyed, but the satellite's SNAP-19 RTG was later found on the ocean floor, nearly intact. That RTG was recovered and its nuclear fuel re-used on the Nimbus 3 mission.

[ahgflyguy]

“... so naturally that raises the question...” Thanks for not saying “begs the question”. +1 for knowing what words and phrases mean and using them accordingly!

[al]

I couldn't imagine the anxiety one most feel who's in charge of launching the Webb telescope into orbit.

Or the relief after a job well done.

I hope all goes well with Webb 🙏

[scott_meyer]

The other issue with plutonium is the US has very little left for scientific use.

[josue]

2:23 I thought it was because NASA doesn't have enough enriched plutonium, so they are saving what little the have left for the most important deep space missions.

[patrickwalsh]

Thanks for another awesome video Christian. The orbital mechanics of the Lucy spacecraft is truly impressive as well as the trivia of the names.
I’m optimistic that the scientists can make the solar panel get the job done!

[Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

If _Desi Arnaz_ was one of the engineers on this project, he would be saying:
_"LUCY?! You got some 'SPLAINING to do!"_ 😉

{Humor aside, I hope the engineers either FIX the problem OR are able to complete the mission despite the problem.}

[pipertripp]

If you haven’t heard William Shatner’s version of LSD you need to treat yourself. Pure comedy gold.

[sequoiahughes]

“Lucy was originally a song by the Beatles before it was vastly improved and popularized by William Shatner” ha ha—thanks for that 😄

[evergo]

I have only discovered your channel recently, but am rapidly consuming all of your content because of it's exceptional quality. It's clear you have worked hard to hone your craft over the last few years, and it does not go without notice. In my eyes, you have be come one of the great science communicators of our time. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I feel like I got to watch the birth of a star.

[peterweicker]

Top drawer. I've also just realized that viewing clarity of presentation as superficial is superficial. The additional effort required to understand accented or impeded speech (or marginal copy and graphics) reduces the resources available to understand and retain the meaning of content. It's like the difference between walking up or walking down a gentle slope. Not huge, but noticeable.

[martintimmer]

James Webb telescope: oops, the solar sails didn’t deploy fully….50 billion down the toilet….

[gregzsidisin]

'RTGs are dangerous' ... 'A rocket explosion will scatter plutonium'. Urgh. RTGs are designed to stay intact in the event of a launch accident. The reason Lucy doesn't have RTGs is, yes, solar panel improvements, but also a lack of the plutonium-238 isotope required. The latter condition is being resolved, and luckily RTGs will continue to be used where needed - including future Mars rovers similar to Curiosity and Perseverance, and spacecraft going beyond Jupiter's orbit.

(Plutonium 238 is an isotope with a much shorter half-life than the more common plutonium 239. The short half-life is indeed what makes it useful for generating heat.)

[artdonovandesign]

"....vastly improved upon by William Shatner".
You're a hoot! 😅😅😅