Lucy Trojan Asteroid Mission: Teaser

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  • 
    ID: 13948 Produced Video

    Designing Lucy’s Path to the Trojan Asteroids

    Oct. 5th, 2021
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Explore Lucy’s journey to one main-belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojans.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Ocean Simulation” & “The Sequencer Paradox” by Laetitia Frenod; “The Chess Game” by David James Elliott & Martin Gratton; “Tale of Time” by Markus GleissnerWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || Lucy is the first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojans – two swarms of asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit, leading and trailing the giant planet by sixty degrees. These primitive bodies are thought to be the “fossils” of planet formation, trapped by Jupiter’s gravity at the dawn of the solar system. Now, NASA is sending Lucy on a winding, twelve-year-long path to visit one main-belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojans. Lucy will provide the first up-close look at these mysterious objects, helping scientists to better understand the evolution of the solar system.Learn more about Lucy’s path to eight asteroids.Asteroid Ryugu imagery provided by: JAXA Hayabusa 2 ||

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  • 
    ID: 4943 Visualization

    Lucy Mission Trajectory 'Over-the-Shoulder' Views

    Sept. 28th, 2021
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    This visualization is a view from the Lucy spacecraft as it travels through the solar system, represented in a Jupiter-rotating reference frame. In this reference frame, Jupiter appears fixed in space. This visualization spans from launch through the flyby of the main belt asteroid DonaldJohanson. (Part 1 of 3) || Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojans asteroids - two loose groups of asteroids that orbit the Sun, with one group always ahead of Jupiter in its path, the other always behind. These primitive bodies hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system, and perhaps even the origins of life and organic material on Earth.Lucy will launch in October 2021 and, with boosts from Earth's gravity, will complete a twelve-year journey to eight different asteroids — a Main Belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojans, the last two members of a “two-for-the-price-of-one” binary system. Lucy’s complex path will take it to both clusters of Trojans and give us our first close-up view of all three major types of bodies in the swarms (so-called C-, P- and D-types).These visualizations give an 'over-the-shoulder' view of Lucy as the spacecraft travels through the solar system. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4719 Visualization

    Lucy mission trajectory

    Oct. 21st, 2019
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Jupiter's swarms of Trojan asteroids may be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, and serve as time capsules from the birth of our Solar System more than 4 billion years ago. The Trojans orbit in two loose groups that orbit the Sun, with one group always ahead of Jupiter in its path, the other always behind. At these two Lagrange points the bodies are stabilized by the Sun and Jupiter in a gravitational balancing act. These primitive bodies hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system, and perhaps even the origins of life and organic material on Earth.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. Likewise, the Lucy mission will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.Lucy will launch in October 2021 and, with boosts from Earth's gravity, will complete a twelve-year journey to eight different asteroids — a Main Belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojans, the last two members of a “two-for-the-price-of-one” binary system. Lucy’s complex path will take it to both clusters of Trojans and give us our first close-up view of all three major types of bodies in the swarms (so-called C-, P- and D-types). ||

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  • 
    ID: 20301 Animation

    Lucy Mission Animations

    Oct. 21st, 2019
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Lucy flies by its final target, the binary asteroid Patroclus/Menoetius. When it completes this flyby, Lucy will have visited an unprecedented seven asteroids. || Beyond the asteroid belt are "fossils of planet formation" known as the Trojan asteroids. These primitive bodies share Jupiter's orbit, and may hold clues to the formation and evolution of our solar system. NASA is preparing to explore the Trojan asteroids for the first time with a mission called Lucy, which will launch in 2021 and visit seven asteroids over twelve years. Like the famous hominid fossil for which it is named, the Lucy mission will improve our understanding of the ancient past, and be the first to uncover these fossils of planet formation. ||

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