Solar System Exploration Data Services Office

Lucy

Class:

Flight Project

Status:

Operational

Organizations:

Launch Date:

October 2021

WEBSITE:

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. Taking advantage of a fortuitous orbital configuration, Lucy will perform an exhaustive landmark investigation that visits six of these primitive asteroids, covering both the L4 and L5 swarms, all the known taxonomic types, the largest remnant of the only known Trojan disruptive collisional family and a nearly equal mass binary. It will use a suite of high-heritage remote sensing instruments to map the geology, surface color and composition, thermal and other physical properties of its targets at close range. Thus, Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins.

Key Staff
Instruments
 An artist’s conception of the Lucy spacecraft flying by the Trojan Eurybates - Credits: SwRI and SSL/Peter Rubin