After launching late last year, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft to the Jupiter Trojans began to deploy its solar arrays. One of the arrays deployed and latched, but the other got stuck about 95% of the way open or 345 degrees out of 360. The solar arrays are unfurled using an about 800-centimeter long lanyard, or rope system. The lanyard has a prime and a backup motor. According to the team, between 50 and 100 centimeters of the rope are stuck.

In early May, the team will use both motors at the same time in a brief tug to hopefully free the remaining rope and latch the solar panel. Ground tests showed this might be possible.

The array is producing 90% of the expected power, which is not a concern for the rest of the mission. What is a concern is the potential for damage to the unlatched array once Lucy starts using its main engine. If this next attempt does not fully latch the solar panel, which engineers think it might not, teams will try again a month later after gathering data.

More Information

NASA’s Lucy Mission Is “Go” for Solar Array Deployment Attempt (NASA)