gravity assist
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Trojan Asteroids Loom Closer as NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Fires Up Engine for First Time
The asteroid-sleuthing probe is transitioning from its orbit around the Sun to one beyond the orbit of Jupiter.
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Seeing Double: Lucy’s First Target Asteroid Has a Tiny Moon
As NASA’s Lucy spacecraft zoomed past its first asteroid on Wednesday, its mission scientists made a surprising discovery of a bonus space rock. The first images sent over by the Lucy mission of its brief rendezvous with the main asteroid belt revealed a binary pair, with a tiny satellite closely orbiting Dinkinesh, NASA announced on…
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Mercury Probe Captures Breathtaking New Images During Latest Flyby
A probe is familiarising itself with the closest planet to the Sun, gearing up to explore Mercury’s heavily cratered surface. The BepiColombo mission recently captured stunning new images of Mercury during a close flyby, which resulted in the naming of an impact crater after a pioneering Jamaican artist.
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First Image From This Week’s Rare Double Flyby of Venus
The BepiColombo mission got this close-up image of the planet Venus as it passed by on August 10. The spacecraft was using Venus for a gravity assist on its way to its ultimate destination, Mercury. It’s one of two spacecraft zipping by the planet this week, the other being Solar Orbiter, which flew past yesterday.