During the next hour, the second stage reignited to place Lucy on an interplanetary trajectory in a heliocentric orbit on a twelve-year mission to two groups of Sun-Jupiter Trojan asteroids as well as close flybys of main belt asteroids during one of three planned passes through the asteroid belt. If the spacecraft remains operational during ...

Jul 25, 2024 · Lucy is the first space mission to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These remnants of our early solar system are trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the giant planet Jupiter.

Oct 18, 2021 · NASA’s Lucy spacecraft launched aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket on Oct. 16, 2021, on a 12-year journey to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. Called “Trojans” after characters from Greek mythology, most of Lucy’s target asteroids are left over from the formation of the solar system.

Dec 10, 2024 · Lucy will then rapidly recede from Earth and return to interplanetary space, the gravity assist having increased the spacecraft’s speed with respect to the Sun by over 16,000 miles per hour (7.31 kilometers per second). During the first Earth gravity assist in 2022, the spacecraft imaged the Earth and the Moon as part of an instrument calibration.

Feb 11, 2025 · Lucy is the first space mission to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These remnants of our early solar system are trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the giant planet Jupiter.

Jul 12, 2021 · As the first-ever mission to the Trojan asteroids, Lucy will survey this enigmatic population of small bodies that orbit the Sun beyond the main asteroid belt – trapped by Jupiter and the Sun so that they have led and followed Jupiter in its orbit.

Oct 13, 2022 · On Oct. 16, at 7:04 a.m. EDT, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, the first mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, will skim the Earth’s atmosphere, passing a mere 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the surface.

Oct 16, 2021 · Over the next 12 years, Lucy will fly by one main-belt asteroid and seven Trojan asteroids, making it the agency’s first single spacecraft mission in history to explore so many different asteroids. Lucy will investigate these “fossils” of planetary formation up …

Oct 16, 2021 · Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojans. The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor (called “Lucy” by her discoverers) whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity’s evolution.

The Lucy mission, will be the first reconnaissance of the Jupiter Trojans - objects that hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the Solar System.