Friday, March 19, 2021

Photo of the Day: A Trojan Asteroid-bound Explorer Continues to Take Shape in Colorado...

With its high-gain antenna now installed, NASA's Lucy spacecraft is hoisted into the air at the Lockheed Martin facilty in Denver, Colorado...in late 2020.
Lockheed Martin

NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Gets a Lift (News Release - March 18)

Seen here in late 2020 nearly fully assembled, the 13-foot tall (about 4 meters) Lucy spacecraft is lifted back to its dolly as the Lockheed Martin team in Denver, Colorado, continues production. Since Lucy will be exploring deep space hundreds of millions of miles away, the 6.5-foot (about 2 meters) in diameter high-gain antenna will be critical for communications to and from Earth as the spacecraft visits seven different Trojan asteroids and one main belt asteroid. The spacecraft will complete its journey over the course of 12 years, and its many maneuvers will be fueled by the propulsion tanks seen here. Lucy will head to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this summer for processing ahead of its launch window, which opens Oct. 16, 2021.

Source: NASA.Gov

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An artist's concept of NASA's Lucy spacecraft venturing past the Trojan asteroid Patroclus and its binary companion Menoetius near Jupiter's orbit.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Conceptual Image Lab / Adriana Gutierrez

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