Lucy Deployment Animations

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will make an exceptionally close flyby of Earth on Oct. 16, 2022. Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Determined Arrival 5” by Joel Goodman; “Finding Solace” by Eric Chevalier; “Subtle Confidence 3” by Joel GoodmanWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. NASA’s Lucy mission is heading to the Jupiter Trojans – two swarms of primitive asteroids trapped in Jupiter’s orbit that may hold clues to the formation of the planets. Lucy launched on October 16, 2021. After a year in orbit around the Sun, it is returning home on its launch anniversary for the first of three Earth gravity assists. On October 16, 2022, Lucy will fly by the Earth like a partner in a swing dance, boosting its speed and elongating its orbit around the Sun.At 7:04 am, Eastern Time, Lucy will make its closest approach at just 219 miles above the planet: lower than the International Space Station. This exceptionally close shave will increase its velocity by 4.5 miles per second, setting Lucy on track to gain even more speed when it returns to Earth for its second gravity assist in December 2024.Learn more about Lucy s first Earth gravity assist. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/lucy-ega)

Shortly after Lucy launched, one of its solar arrays failed to fully deploy, putting the mission at risk. Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Hypervelocity” by Sophy Olivia PurnellWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. NASA’s Lucy mission is heading to the Jupiter Trojans – two swarms of unexplored asteroids trapped in Jupiter’s orbit. Lucy made a picture-perfect launch on October 16, 2021, but when the spacecraft began to unfurl its solar arrays, it encountered an anomaly. One of the arrays failed to fully deploy and latch shut, putting the mission at risk. For months, Lucy’s flight operations team worked meticulously to address the issue and put Lucy back on its solar-powered journey to the Jupiter Trojans.Learn more about the effort to address Lucy’s solar array anomaly. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lucy/main/index)

Explore Lucy’s journey to one main-belt asteroid and seven Jupiter Trojans.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “Ocean Simulation” “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 For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lucy/main/index)