NASA Selects Scientists to Join Lucy Mission Studying Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids

Written by Copernical Team Friday, 28 February 2025 12:29

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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 28, 2025

NASA has chosen eight scientists to participate in its Lucy mission, an initiative aimed at studying the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These celestial bodies, considered remnants from the early solar system, follow stable orbits linked to Jupiter but remain at significant distances from the planet. The Lucy mission's Participating Scientist Program for the L4 Trojans enables researchers to con

NASA Selects Scientists to Join Lucy Mission Studying Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 28, 2025

NASA has chosen eight scientists to participate in its Lucy mission, an initiative aimed at studying the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These celestial bodies, considered remnants from the early solar system, follow stable orbits linked to Jupiter but remain at significant distances from the planet.

The Lucy mission's Participating Scientist Program for the L4 Trojans enables researchers to contribute new insights into the nature and composition of these asteroids. The Lucy spacecraft, launched in 2021, is currently en route to the L4 Trojan swarm, which precedes Jupiter in its solar orbit. This marks the first selection of participating scientists, who will join the mission's science team for four key asteroid flybys within the L4 swarm, scheduled for 2027 and 2028. These researchers will continue their analysis through 2030.

The scientists selected for this program are:

- Harrison Agrusa, Observatoire de la Cote 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, D.C. - Norbert Schorghofer, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona - Jennifer Scully, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California - Anne Verbiscer, University of Virginia, Charlottesville

Lucy's principal investigator, Hal Levison, is based at the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio.