Lucy

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Science ExplorationinterplanetaryCOSPAR 2021-093ALaunched 10/16/2021

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Mission & Launch

Launch Mission: Lucy Mission
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 401 C
Launch Date: 10/16/2021

Orbit & Mass

Orbit Class: interplanetary
Altitude: -20,300.5 km
Inclination: 31.34 deg
Dry Mass: 821 kg
Total Mass: 1,550 kg

Payload Classification

Organizations

Operator: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin

Registry

COSPAR ID: 2021-093A
UN Registration: ST/SG/SER.E/1031

Mentions

All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.

Lucy’s spacecraft was designed, built, tested, and is operated out of Lockheed Martin Space’s Littleton, Colorado facility.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.5Oct 16, 2021UPDATE: Lucy Launched

Lucy’s complex trajectory required launching during a three-week window that opened 2021-10-16.

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Using the OFT-2 booster for Lucy required removing two solid rocket boosters that were required for OFT-2 but not needed for Lucy and replacing an avionics box.

PlanCapabilityValue 3.8Oct 16, 2021Atlas 5 launches NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

Lucy must launch during a window open only through 2021-11-07 to follow a complex trajectory to visit several Trojan asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Sep 28, 2021Government shutdown could delay NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

NASA tested the functions of the Lucy spacecraft prior to its scheduled launch on 2021-10-16.

PlanValue 4.0Sep 28, 2021Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids Are The Target For NASA’s Lucy Mission, Now Being Prepared

Lucy is scheduled to launch in the predawn hours of 2021-10-16 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Sep 28, 2021Government shutdown could delay NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

A federal government shutdown that would occur if Congress does not pass a continuing resolution by 2021-10-01 could halt launch preparations for Lucy.

PlanLegalGeneralValue 2.2Sep 28, 2021Government shutdown could delay NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

Engineers tested Lucy’s mechanical, electrical, and thermal systems and practiced executing the launch sequence from mission operations centers at Kennedy and Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Sep 28, 2021Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids Are The Target For NASA’s Lucy Mission, Now Being Prepared

Lucy will perform Earth flybys in October 2022 and December 2024 after its launch.

PlanValue 4.0Sep 28, 2021Government shutdown could delay NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

Lucy will perform an Earth flyby in December 2030 and fly by two objects in the other Trojan cluster in March 2033.

PlanValue 4.0Sep 28, 2021Government shutdown could delay NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

Lucy’s first asteroid flyby will occur in 2025 and its last planned flyby will occur in 2033.

PlanValue 4.0Aug 2, 2021Lockheed Martin’s-Built Lucy — Not In The Sky Yet — Arrives At Kennedy Space Center For Launch

Lucy is a nearly one-ton spacecraft that took 18 months to build at Lockheed Martin’s Littleton, Colorado facility.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Aug 2, 2021Lockheed Martin’s-Built Lucy — Not In The Sky Yet — Arrives At Kennedy Space Center For Launch

Lucy will begin a 23-day launch window that opens on 2021-10-16 to prepare for launch.

PlanValue 3.4Aug 2, 2021Lockheed Martin’s-Built Lucy — Not In The Sky Yet — Arrives At Kennedy Space Center For Launch

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin arrived at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 2021-07-30.

PlanRelationshipsValue 4.0Aug 2, 2021Lockheed Martin’s-Built Lucy — Not In The Sky Yet — Arrives At Kennedy Space Center For Launch

Lockheed Martin Space designed, built, tested, and will operate Lucy out of its Littleton, Colorado facility.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Aug 2, 2021Lockheed Martin’s-Built Lucy — Not In The Sky Yet — Arrives At Kennedy Space Center For Launch

NASA selected the asteroid missions Lucy and Psyche in early 2017 instead of Venus missions in that previous Discovery selection.

PlanGeneralValue 3.0Jun 2, 2021NASA selects two Venus missions for Discovery program

Two Venus missions were among the five finalists in the previous round of NASA’s Discovery program, but NASA selected the asteroid missions Lucy and Psyche in early 2017 and provided additional study funding to NEOCam.

PlanFinancialValue 3.6Sep 15, 2020Potential biosignature discovery could boost prospects of Venus missions

Lucy is a Discovery-class mission selected by NASA in 2017 and is scheduled to launch in October 2021 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Aug 19, 2020NASA’s planetary science program shifts priority to asteroid missions

NASA selected Lucy as the other Discovery program mission in January 2017 to visit Trojan asteroids in Jupiter's orbit.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Feb 28, 2020Falcon Heavy to launch NASA Psyche asteroid mission

NASA selected the Lucy and Psyche asteroid missions in January 2017.

PlanValue 3.5Jul 7, 2019Report makes case for space-based asteroid tracking telescope