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mccannr1 t1_j5k0rla wrote

This headline makes it sound like it's a disaster. The array is 98% deployed and working well within mission parameters. It's good to go.

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danielravennest t1_j5k41gz wrote

The worry is since that array isn't latched, it may cause problems when they use the rocket engines.

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shotsallover t1_j5l3wrs wrote

Or, maybe they use the engines to shake it loose so they can finish deploying it?

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vanearthquake t1_j5l7vaf wrote

You’ve been watching lots of movies haven’t you

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dboyr t1_j5le8vo wrote

It honestly sounds like a very reasonable attempt at a fix

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alvinofdiaspar t1_j5llavl wrote

I don't know if they should even bother at this point - provided that the unlatched solar panel doesn't create any problems going forward. At some point trying to fix it might be more risky than leaving it alone.

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Inariameme t1_j5mfgbo wrote

using the engines (i assume) is an inevitablity

deployment might be a closed process

without the capacity to reinitialize

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GarunixReborn t1_j5mn9bv wrote

they could just retract it while the engines are operating, wouldn't that work?

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alvinofdiaspar t1_j5mpeh0 wrote

Don't quote me on this because I don't know the details of the mechanism - but I don't think it is designed to be retracted; it's supposed to be one of these do once and done kind of design.

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featherwolf t1_j5mldad wrote

It sounds like exactly the kind of maneuver JPL would pull.

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alvinofdiaspar t1_j5ll0oo wrote

Believe it or not that's a thing - they tried that (among many, many other things) to try and deploy the high gain antenna on the Galileo probe. It all failed.

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Chicken_Teeth t1_j5mxul9 wrote

We can send a tiny rocket loaded with WD-40 up there. Should need less force to launch less mass. Then just let off a little pressurized WD-40 from time to time to build speed in the vacuum. Or set up a planetary slingshot.

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edstirling t1_j5kay40 wrote

"Nasa abandons hope of further deployment."

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TecumsehSherman t1_j5l3bwa wrote

"Space program shuts down! 'We just couldn't deploy the dammed solar panels' says former Chief Space Person"

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BLooDCRoW t1_j5l4pkb wrote

"NASA to declare bankruptcy after catastrophic deployment failure."

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hobbitdude13 t1_j5l7ra7 wrote

"We just ployed them so hard we couldn't deploy them." - NASA spokesperson

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amitym t1_j5lgpfa wrote

"What started as a monosaster has doubled into a disaster."

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myusernameblabla t1_j5njyzo wrote

"NASA Slammed into Bankruptcy by Capitalist Critics as Efforts to Fully Deploy Lucy Solar Array Come to a Halt, Global Economic Meltdown Imminent and Housing Prices rise yet AGAIN!”

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reckoner23 t1_j5qa1l7 wrote

I think its time to put a filter block on spacenews.com

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