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Lucy

NASA · Launch: 16 Oct 2021

First mission to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids — fossils of planet formation.

Objective: Fly by seven Trojan asteroids over twelve years.

Eurybates flyby (first Trojan)

Aug 2027

Target date · may change

Mission details

Rocket & spacecraft
Atlas V
Destination
Jupiter Trojan asteroids
Duration
12 years
  • Visits more asteroids than any mission before.
  • Named after the famous fossil hominin 'Lucy'.
  • Huge 7 m solar panels to work far from the Sun.

Milestones

3 of 4 reached

  1. Launch

    Oct 2021

  2. Dinkinesh flyby

    Nov 2023

  3. Donaldjohanson flyby

    Apr 2025

  4. Eurybates flyby

    Aug 2027Provisional

Future dates are agency targets, not confirmed schedules.

Curated dataset

Official source: NASA Lucy →