Seven of Lucy's eight targets
Seven of Lucy's eight targets
NASA's Lucy mission will investigate eight planetoids at close range between 2025 and 2033, seven of which are shown here as artist's impressions. They are: an asteroid in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter (Donaldjohanson, Ø approximately four kilometres), then four Trojan asteroids at Lagrange point 4 along Jupiter's orbit – Eurybates (Ø 64 kilometres, August 2027) with its moon Queta (Ø estimated at one kilometre), discovered only in 2020 (and not shown here), Polymele (Ø 21 kilometres, September 2027 ), Leucus (Ø 40 kilometres, April 2028) and Orus (Ø 51 kilometres, November 2028). In the last currently planned mission segment, Lucy will observe the asteroid Patroclus (Ø 113 kilometres) with its binary companion Menoetius (Ø 104 kilometres) at the L5 point in the 'Trojan Camp' (March 2033).
