NASA Readies 'Lucy' Spacecraft for Launch

NASA
September 30, 2021
Michael Howard
NASA's Lucy spacecraft being prepped for encapsulation at Astrotech's Titusville facility. Once launched, Lucy will journey to the Trojan Asteroids on a twelve year mission. Photo credit: Michael Howard / We Report Space
NASA's Lucy spacecraft being prepped for encapsulation at Astrotech's Titusville facility. Once launched, Lucy will journey to the Trojan Asteroids on a twelve year mission. Photo credit: Michael Howard / We Report Space

Titusville, Florida -- On September 29, 2021, members of the media had a rare opportunity to suit up and enter the clean room at Astrotech to view NASA's Lucy spacecraft before being encapsulated and transferred to the launch pad ahead of launch, currently scheduled for no earlier than October 16, 2021, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 

Lucy, awaiting encapsulation in the clean room. Photo Credit: Michael Howard / We Report Space

The Lucy spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, was named after the fossilized skeleton of an early hominid (pre-human) ancestor that was discovered on the continent of Africa in the nation of Ethiopia in 1974. The paleoanthropologists who made this incredible find named this discovery "Lucy."

Bracketed by a pair of 4 meter fairing halves, Lucy (in stowed configuration) prepares for encapsulation. Photo Credit: Michael Howard / We Report Space

Lucy will be the first spacecraft to be traveling to the Trojan asteroids. These are small celestial remnants of our early solar system that are trapped in stable orbits that are clustered in two "swarms" that lead and follow Jupiter in it's orbit around the sun. The mission is planned to take 12 years and seeks to unlock the mysteries of our solar system, its formation and the origin of the planets. 

Learn more about the Lucy mission from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lucy/overview/index

Follow the mission science with the Southwestern Research Institute: http://lucy.swri.edu


Photos

Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard)

September 30, 2021
Michael Howard
Open in Gallery

Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard): Atlas V / NASA Lucy Asteroid Mission (Michael Howard):
SpaceX launches first all-private citizen mission to orbit
NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Arrives at Launchpad
We Report Space Book
The Book

Stunning, full color photo book covering every east coast launch spanning 2014-2015, including the first-ever powered landing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

More Info