The Lucy spacecraft is cruising 30 million miles from Earth and testing of solar arrays continues

The Lucy spacecraft, launched on Oct. 16, 2021, is now more than 30 million miles, or 48 million kilometers, from Earth and continues to operate safely in "outbound cruising" mode. Except for one solar array that wasn't locked up after deployment — and the mission team is working to fix it — all other spacecraft systems are working properly.

Existing solar arrays are generating sufficient energy to supply the spacecraft's batteries under normal operating conditions.

Current plans support failed battery array locking attempts within the late April time frame; however, the team is continuing to investigate the possibility of keeping the array as it is. Meanwhile, in the lab, they are testing the deployment of a dual-motor solar array using the main motor and the backup motor. The purpose of the test was to determine whether the use of two motors at the same time had enough power to complete the deployment and lock in the solar array.

In addition to solar array activities, the team continued to perform routine operations on the spacecraft. The next activity is to calibrate the guidance, navigation, and control hardware to ensure the accuracy of the spacecraft's pointing.

On Jan. 5, Lucy completed a test that observed the spacecraft's dynamics to determine the characteristics of the solar array.