Lucy
Journey to the Jupiter Trojan Asteroids
Lucy is traveling through the Solar System to become the first mission to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, primitive bodies that occupy stable regions associated with Jupiter's orbit.
Object type
Multi-asteroid flyby spacecraft
Launch
October 16, 2021
Known for
First mission to Jupiter Trojans
TransitSatellite connection
Lucy connects asteroid flybys, Jupiter's orbital environment, gravity assists, and the early history of the outer Solar System.
Objective
Visit time capsules of planet formation
The Trojan asteroids may preserve material from the early Solar System. Lucy compares multiple objects rather than studying only one, looking for diversity that can test models of planetary migration and formation.
Trajectory
One spacecraft, many encounters
Lucy uses a long sequence of solar orbits and Earth gravity assists to reach main-belt targets and then multiple Trojan asteroids that lead and trail Jupiter around the Sun.
Science
Compare worlds from one population
Repeated flybys let the mission compare geology, composition, mass, density, satellites, and surface properties across a record-setting number of asteroid targets.
TransitSatellite connections
Related missions, rockets & people
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