The spacecraft's name is a nod to the 3.2-million-year-old hominin skeleton dubbed “Lucy” by its discoverers. Much like the fossil Lucy advanced our knowledge of human evolution, the Lucy spacecraft will endeavor to uncover new knowledge about the origins of our solar system and planets.
Why is the Lucy mission called Lucy?
A year after approval, the mission was officially given a schedule and a set of eight asteroid targets. Lucy is named for a famous female Australopithecus afarensis fossil found in Ethiopia that, as a relative of modern humans, helped illuminate the evolution of our species.
What is Lucy in space?
Lucy is a NASA space probe on a twelve-year journey to eight different asteroids, visiting a main belt asteroid as well as seven Jupiter trojans, asteroids which share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun, orbiting either ahead of or behind the planet.
Why NASA launched a robotic archaeologist named Lucy?
NASA named its newest spacecraft Lucy because it hopes that the robotic probe can help unlock some secrets of solar system evolution.
What is NASA’s Lucy?
NASA's Lucy mission is a spacecraft to explore ancient asteroids that orbit at the limits of our solar system.
Why will Lucy conduct two fly bys of Earth?
After launch, Lucy will conduct two flybys of Earth to adjust its trajectory and send the mission out through the solar system.
Where is the Lucy probe now?
Lucy sent its first signal to Earth from its own antenna to NASA's Deep Space Network at 6:40 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft is now traveling at roughly 67,000 mph (108,000 kph) on a trajectory that will orbit the Sun and bring it back toward Earth in October 2022 for a gravity assist.
Did Lucy launch successfully?
The launch was deemed a success, putting Lucy on its trajectory to reach Jupiter's asteroids, named the Trojans, by 2027. “In the current spacecraft attitude, Lucy can continue to operate.”
Where is NASA Lucy now?
Now, Lucy is on its way to the Trojans. Its launch from Earth placed Lucy on a trajectory that will bring it past Earth twice — in 2022 and then 2024 — so the spacecraft can use this planet's gravity to hurl itself toward the Trojans.
Is Lucy coming back to Earth?
Once in space, Lucy will return to Earth for two gravitational assist manoeuvres. These will add energy to its orbit, lofting it into the preceding swarm, where it will encounter four Trojans during the 2027-28 timeframe. It will also pass a main belt asteroid en route in 2025.