DENVER, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin
(NYSE: LMT) has been selected to design, build and operate the
spacecraft for NASA's Lucy mission. One of NASA's two new Discovery
Program missions, Lucy will perform the first reconnaissance of the
Jupiter Trojan asteroids orbiting the sun in tandem with the gas
giant. The Lucy spacecraft will launch in 2021 to study six of
these exciting worlds.
The mission is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Harold Levison of the Southwest Research
Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland will manage the mission.
The program has a development cost cap of about $450 million.
"This is a thrilling mission as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids
have never been studied up close," said Guy
Beutelschies, director of Interplanetary Systems at Lockheed
Martin Space Systems. "The design of the spacecraft draws from the
flight-proven OSIRIS-REx spacecraft currently on its way to a
near-Earth asteroid. This heritage of spacecraft and mission
operations brings known performance, reliability and cost to the
mission."
Lucy will study the geology, surface composition and bulk
physical properties of these bodies at close range. It's slated to
arrive at its first destination, a main belt asteroid, in 2025.
From 2027 to 2033, Lucy will explore six Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
These asteroids are trapped by Jupiter's gravity in two swarms that
share the planet's orbit, one leading and one trailing Jupiter in
its 12-year circuit around the sun. The Trojans are thought to be
relics of a much earlier era in the history of the solar system,
and may have formed far beyond Jupiter's current orbit.
"This is a unique opportunity," said Dr. Levison. "Because the
Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the
outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of
the solar system. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is
named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins."
Lucy is the seventh NASA Discovery Program mission in which
Lockheed Martin has participated. Previously, the company developed
the Lunar Prospector spacecraft; developed the aeroshell entry
system for Mars Pathfinder; developed and operated the spacecraft
for both Stardust missions; developed and operated the Genesis
spacecraft; developed and operated the two GRAIL spacecraft; and
developed and will operate the InSight Mars lander set to launch in
May 2018.
NASA's Discovery program class missions are relatively low-cost,
their development capped at a specific cost. They are managed for
NASA's Planetary Science Division by the Planetary Missions Program
Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The missions are designed
and led by a principal investigator, who assembles a team of
scientists and engineers, to address key science questions about
the solar system.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
98,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research,
design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of
advanced technology systems, products and services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin