NASA’s Lucy mission sets sight on main asteroid targets

After observing the first-ever contact binary orbiting asteroid in 2023 (first asteroid encounter), NASA's Lucy mission is gearing up to observe its main targets - the Jupiter Trojan asteroids in the main asteroid belt.

Lucy, which is currently in an orbit around the Sun, will perform a series of deep space maneuvers and an Earth gravity assist in 2024 to enter a new orbit that will carry it beyond the orbit of Jupiter and into the realm of the Trojan asteroids.

In late January 2024, the spacecraft will perform two deep space maneuvers to change its velocity by around 2,000 mph (approximately 900 meters per second). On January 31, the spacecraft will perform a brief burn, followed by a larger maneuver, nominally on February 3. These maneuvers will consume roughly half of the spacecraft's onboard fuel.

These maneuvers will place Lucy on course for its second milestone - a gravity assist in December 2024. During this close encounter, the Lucy will fly within 230 miles (370 kilometers) of the Earth and will propel the spacecraft back through the main asteroid belt, where it will observe asteroid Donaldjohanson in April 2025, and then on to the Trojan asteroids in 2027, when it reaches Eurybates and its satellite Queta.