The Lucy spacecraft, during its nominal 12-year mission, will fly by and collect data from seven primitive worlds in the same orbit as Jupiter, as well as a main belt asteroid.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54672 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-15-2021 09:40 PM
NASA live video
NASA's Lucy mission is scheduled to launch on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021 at 5:34 a.m. EDT (9:34 UTC) to the Trojan asteroids.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54672 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-16-2021 04:32 AM
Lucy will mark the 100th launch from Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (formerly Air Force Station).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54672 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-16-2021 04:58 AM
NASA/Bill Ingalls photo
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard is seen in this 2 minute and 30 second exposure photograph as it launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 54672 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-14-2022 01:16 AM
On Sunday (Oct. 16) at 7:04 a.m. EDT, the Lucy spacecraft will fly by Earth, passing a mere 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the planet.
At around 6:55 a.m. EDT, Lucy will first be visible to observers on the ground in Western Australia (6:55 p.m. for those observers). Lucy will quickly pass overhead, clearly visible to the naked eye for a few minutes before disappearing at 7:02 a.m. EDT as the spacecraft passes into the Earth’s shadow. Lucy will continue over the Pacific Ocean in darkness and emerge from the Earth's shadow at 7:26 a.m. EDT. If the clouds cooperate, sky watchers in the western United States should be able to get a view of Lucy with the aid of binoculars.
The public is invited to join the #WaveToLucy social media campaign by posting images of themselves waving towards the spacecraft and tagging the @NASASolarSystem account. Additionally, if you are in an area where Lucy will be visible, take a photograph of Lucy and post it to social media with the #SpotTheSpacecraft hashtag. Instructions for observing Lucy from your location are available here.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3847 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 04-23-2025 11:02 AM
The 'Lucy' spacecraft has now made its second asteroid flyby, having carried out observations of main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson from as close as 600 miles on Monday 21st April. Initial images show a twin-lobe body with an odd neck. I can't speak for the NASA controllers, but the image quality exceeded my expectations, and more will be available soon.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3847 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 06-05-2025 05:22 PM
The last information about the Lucy encounter with asteroid Donaldjohanson was on or about 23rd April. Actually, the last information on NASA's "Lucy" website was on 20th April, showing a brief video of the encounter. This didn't actually show the entire asteroid.
I have hunted high and low online but have found precisely nothing about the encounter other than that brief video. No still images, no data on the encounter, nothing. It's as if a total news blackout has been implemented.
I have two questions:
Can anyone more skillful in online searching find anything up-to-date about the Donaldjohanson encounter, specifically images showing the whole asteroid?
Why would there be no publicly-available updates on a NASA asteroid mission? Is this one of those ridiculous proprietary-interest situations where publicly-funded investigators withhold information from the people who pay their salary? (I acknowledge that I'm not a U.S. taxpayer, but clearly U.S. taxpayers aren't being told either.)
posted 10-15-2021 09:39 PM
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