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> If the spacecraft drifts away from Bennu, or some other problem forces it into safe mode, it has been programmed to fly away from the asteroid to stay safe fr
by imglorp 8y ago
> If the spacecraft drifts away from Bennu, or some other problem forces it into safe mode, it has been programmed to fly away from the asteroid to stay safe from impact.
> “It’s simple logic: always burn toward the Sun if something goes wrong”
I see the requirement to avoid a collision while in safe mode, but how is burning sunward always the safest direction?
- dnadler 8y agoIt looks like the probe might be in a polar orbit, and it may also be the case that the plane of the orbit is perpendicular to the sun, so burning sunward would always be safe.