NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will not only feature a time-capsule featuring messages to future civilizations in the form of a plaque, but it will also be the first-ever mission to the Trojan asteroids. It aims to survey this mysterious group of small bodies that orbit the Sun beyond the main asteroid belt. They are trapped by Jupiter and the Sun so that they have led and followed the heavenly body in its orbit.
These asteroids can be considered “fossils” from the formation and evolution of the planets. The Lucy spacecraft itself is named in honor of the fossilized human ancestor discovered the year after Pioneer 11 began its journey out of the Solar System, while its name was inspired by the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Inside the time-capsule, there will be messages from prominent members of our society and a plaque depicting the Solar system on the day of its anticipated launch (Oct. 16, 2021) as well as the original trajectory of the Lucy spacecraft.
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Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado is the principal investigator institution. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado is building the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA’s Discovery Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Discovery Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.,” said the agency in a press release.
