Lucy mission trajectory
- Visualizations by:
- Kel Elkins
- Produced by:
- Dan Gallagher
- View full credits
This top-down, solar system view shows the entire Lucy mission in a Jupiter-rotating reference frame. In this reference frame, Jupiter appears fixed in space. Two large regions of asteroids are depicted along Jupiter’s orbit (know as the Jupiter Trojan Asteroids).
Green - Earth
Blue - Lucy
Orange - Jupiter
White - Target, ‘fly-by’ asteroids
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).
This top-down, solar system view shows the entire Lucy mission in a Jupiter-rotating reference frame. In this reference frame, Jupiter appears fixed in space. Two large regions of asteroids are depicted along Jupiter’s orbit (know as the Jupiter Trojan Asteroids). Labels appear as each fly-by occurs.
Green - Earth
Blue - Lucy
Orange - Jupiter
White - Target, ‘fly-by’ asteroids
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
This visualization includes multiple views of the entire Lucy mission in a Jupiter-rotating reference frame. The visualization includes top-down, side, and oblique views of the solar system.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Visualizers
- Kel Elkins (USRA) [Lead]
- Ernie Wright (USRA)
Producer
- Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle) [Lead]
Datasets used in this visualization
SPICE Ephemerides (A.K.A. SPICE Ephemerides)
Satellite and planetary ephemerides
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