NASA said that the spacecraft “Lucy” has approached the orbit of the asteroids called “Trojan”, where it aims to learn regarding the composition of the solar system.
The craft is set to perform a series of slingshot maneuvers to aid its journey, including a recent maneuver around Earth, until it comes close to Jupiter’s orbit.
NASA scientists were able to see the spacecraft’s vision of Lucy as it flew close to Earth before returning to space.
The spacecraft approached Earth at 7:04 a.m. ET on Sunday, October 16, when it passed within 220 miles of Earth’s surface.
The event was due to close in on the action, but Lucy’s team chose to keep a slightly larger distance due to problems Lucy had with one of her solar arrays.