Space mission updates Lucy’s in the sky NASA’s Lucy mission, which will explore the Trojan asteroids in the outer solar system, launched October 16 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft is named for the 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor fossil, “Lucy,” discovered in 1974 by Donald Johanson, founding director of ASU’s Institute of Human Origins. Aboard the spacecraft is the ASU-led instrument, Lucy Thermal Emission Spectrometer (L’TES), which will help the Lucy team learn about the composition and structure of material on the surface of the asteroids. ASU is also participating in the Lucy mission through the innovative NASA L’SPACE Academy, a free, online, interactive program for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career with space organizations.
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