NASA identifies cause of Lucy solar array issue
Posted: Sat, Jan 29, 2022, 10:16 AM ET (1516 GMT)
Engineers believe they understand why one of two solar arrays on NASA's Lucy spacecraft failed to fully deploy. One of the circular arrays, 7.3 meters in diameter, did not completely unfold and latch into place after the spacecraft's launch in October. A lanyard that is part of the deployment mechanism likely lost tension at some point during deployment, causing the array to stop just short of fully unfolding. Engineers are studying both restarting a deployment motor to pull the array into place or leaving it as is, with a decision likely no earlier than April.
Engineers believe they understand why one of two solar arrays on NASA's Lucy spacecraft failed to fully deploy. One of the circular arrays, 7.3 meters in diameter, did not completely unfold and latch into place after the spacecraft's launch in October. A lanyard that is part of the deployment mechanism likely lost tension at some point during deployment, causing the array to stop just short of fully unfolding. Engineers are studying both restarting a deployment motor to pull the array into place or leaving it as is, with a decision likely no earlier than April.
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