Photo credit: science.nasa.gov
NASA has announced the selection of eight scientists to participate in its Lucy mission, which is focused on exploring the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These intriguing celestial bodies are considered remnants from the early solar system and are found in stable orbits that accompany Jupiter as it navigates its path around the Sun.
The Lucy mission is designed to deepen our understanding of these asteroids, and the newly introduced Participating Scientist Program aims to bring innovative research to light, addressing key questions related to the Jupiter Trojans. Launched in 2021, the Lucy spacecraft is currently en route to the L4 Trojan cluster, which precedes Jupiter in its solar orbit. This marks the inaugural selection of participating scientists who will join the mission science team. They will support the spacecraft during four significant asteroid encounters set for 2027 and 2028 and will continue contributing to the mission’s scientific analysis through 2030.
The scientists selected for this initiative include:
- Harrison Agrusa, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Nice, France
- Benjamin Byron, University of Central Florida, Orlando
- Emily Costello, University of Hawaii, Honolulu
- Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta
- Fiona Nichols-Fleming, Smithsonian Institution, Washington
- Norbert Schorghofer, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona
- Jennifer Scully, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California
- Anne Verbiscer, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
At the helm of the project is Hal Levison, who serves as the principal investigator and is based at the Boulder location of the Southwest Research Institute, which is part of a larger organization headquartered in San Antonio. The mission’s overall management and engineering support are provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft itself, which is the 13th mission under NASA’s Discovery Program, was built and is operated by Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. The Discovery Program, overseen by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, focuses on scientifically significant missions that enhance our understanding of the universe.
For further details on the Lucy mission and its objectives, you can visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/lucy
Source
science.nasa.gov