Lucy In The Sky

Lucy will fly on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket such as the one seen here on an earlier mission. (Image credit: NASA)

October 13, 2021 – If you’re up early on Saturday, Oct. 16, check the skies for the launch of Lucy, NASA’s first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The launch window opens at 5:34 a.m., when a United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled to light up the morning sky as it blasts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Over its 12-year primary mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids. The spacecraft will fly by one asteroid in the solar system’s main belt and seven Trojan asteroids. Lucy’s path will circle back to Earth three times for gravity assists, which will make it the first spacecraft ever to return to our planet’s vicinity from the outer solar system.

Learn more about the mission here.

Watch live coverage of the launch on NASA Television, the NASA app and the agency’s website. Coverage will include livestreaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 5 a.m. Oct. 16, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff.

Source: NASA