NASA has tested the functions of Lucy, the agency’s first spacecraft to
study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, filled it with fuel, and is preparing to
pack it into a capsule for launch Saturday, Oct. 16.
Named after characters in Greek mythology, these asteroids circle the Sun in
two swarms, with one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its path, the other
trailing behind it. Lucy will be the first spacecraft to visit these
asteroids. By studying these asteroids up close, scientists hope to hone
their theories on how our solar system’s planets formed 4.5 billion years
ago and why they ended up in their current configuration.
“With Lucy, we’re going to eight never-before-seen asteroids in 12 years
with a single spacecraft,” said Tom Statler, Lucy project scientist at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. “This is a fantastic opportunity for discovery
as we probe into our solar system’s distant past.”
Following all pandemic protocols, Lucy team members have spent the past
eight weeks at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparing the
spacecraft for flight. Engineers have tested the spacecraft’s mechanical,
electrical, and thermal systems and practiced executing the launch sequence
from the mission operations centers at Kennedy and Lockheed Martin Space in
Littleton, Colorado. In early August, engineers installed the spacecraft’s
high-gain antenna, its second most prominent feature after the expansive
solar arrays, which will allow the spacecraft to communicate with Earth.
“There has been a lot of hands-on work,” said Donya Douglas-Bradshaw, Lucy
project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Maryland. “This summer has gone by so fast; it’s hard to believe we’re
nearly at launch.”
On Sept. 18, propulsion engineers finished filling Lucy’s fuel tanks with
approximately 1,600 pounds (725 kilograms) of liquid hydrazine and liquid
oxygen, which make up 40% of the mass of the spacecraft. The fuel will be
used for precise maneuvers that will propel Lucy to its asteroid
destinations on schedule, while the solar arrays – each the width of a
school bus – will recharge the batteries that will power spacecraft
instruments.
The Lucy spacecraft will soon be packed into the two halves of the launch
vehicle fairing, which will close around it like a clamshell. After the
spacecraft is encapsulated, the Lucy team will be able to communicate with
it electrically through an “umbilical cord.”
“Launching a spacecraft is almost like sending a child off to college –
you’ve done what can for them to get them ready for that next big step on
their own,” said Hal Levison, the principal investigator of the Lucy
mission, based at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
In early October, the encapsulated spacecraft will be transported to the
Vehicle Integration Facility at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,
where it will be “mated” with the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket.
The Atlas V will lift off from Space Launch Complex 41.The rocket will carry
Lucy outside Earth’s atmosphere to begin the long journey to the Trojan
asteroids.
A few days prior to launch, engineers will power up the Lucy spacecraft in
preparation for the mission. This process will take about 20 minutes.
“The spacecraft will sit in launch configuration and the engineering team
will continuously monitor its health and status to make sure Lucy is ready
to go,” said Jessica Lounsbury, the Lucy project systems engineer at
Goddard. “And then it’s launch day.”
Lucy’s first launch attempt is scheduled for 5:34 a.m. EDT on Oct. 16. That
day, the team will be “called to stations” at 1 a.m., which is when everyone
is expected to arrive at mission control and other stations to monitor the
spacecraft and run through the full launch countdown procedures. If weather
or any other issues prohibit a launch that day, the team will have
additional launch opportunities beginning the following day.
Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, is the home institution
of the principal investigator for the Lucy mission. Goddard provides overall
mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance.
Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built 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. The launch is managed by
NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy.
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