lpetrich
Contributor
Lucy (spacecraft) - The First Mission to Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids - Lucy Mission
Earlier today, as I write this, the Lucy spacecraft was launched on its way to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Over its 12-year mission, it will fly by 8 asteroids in 6 asteroid systems, two of them binary systems.
Like the Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter for 5 years, it is powered by solar panels -- big ones, two disks 6 meters / 20 feet in diameter. These were successfully deployed.
The spacecraft has these cameras:
An optical element in L'TES is made of lab-grown diamond, making the spacecraft "Lucy in the Sky with a Diamond".
Earlier today, as I write this, the Lucy spacecraft was launched on its way to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Over its 12-year mission, it will fly by 8 asteroids in 6 asteroid systems, two of them binary systems.
Like the Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter for 5 years, it is powered by solar panels -- big ones, two disks 6 meters / 20 feet in diameter. These were successfully deployed.
The spacecraft has these cameras:
- L'Ralph - panchromatic and color visible imager (0.4-0.85 μm) and infrared spectroscopic mapper (1-3.6 μm). -- like New Horizons Ralph
- L'LORRI - high-resolution visible imager. -- like New Horizons LORRI
- L'TES - thermal infrared spectrometer (6-75 μm). -- like OSIRIS-REx OTES
An optical element in L'TES is made of lab-grown diamond, making the spacecraft "Lucy in the Sky with a Diamond".