Lucy completes its first Earth gravity assist after a year in space

Published by NASASpaceflight on 10/15/2022

A year after its launch, NASA’s Jupiter Trojan asteroid explorer Lucy has completed its first of multiple Earth gravity assists on its journey to explore nine asteroids. Lucy is a first-of-its-kind mission to visit several Trojan asteroids in Jupiter’s L4 and L5 Lagrange points. The mission’s closest approach to Earth occurred on Oct. 16 at 7:04 AM EDT (11:04 UTC).