Lucy Mission to the Trojan Asteroids: Instrumentation and Encounter Concept of Operations

• Published in: The planetary science journal Vol. 2; no. 5; pp. 172 - 181
• Main Authors: Olkin, Catherine B., Levison, Harold F., Vincent, Michael, Noll, Keith S., Andrews, John, Gray, Sheila, Good, Phil, Marchi, Simone, Christensen, Phil, Reuter, Dennis, Weaver, Harold, Pätzold, Martin, Bell III, James F., Hamilton, Victoria E., Dello Russo, Neil, Simon, Amy, Beasley, Matt, Grundy, Will, Howett, Carly, Spencer, John, Ravine, Michael, Caplinger, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The American Astronomical Society 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Flyby missions; Jupiter trojans; Space vehicles
• ISSN: 2632-3338; 2632-3338
• DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/abf83f

Abstract The Lucy Mission accomplishes its science during a series of five flyby encounters with seven Trojan asteroid targets. This mission architecture drives a concept of operations design that maximizes science return, provides redundancy in observations where possible, features autonomous fault protection, and utilizes onboard target tracking near closest approach. These design considerations reduce risk during the relatively short time-critical periods when science data is collected. The payload suite consists of a color camera and infrared imaging spectrometer, a high-resolution panchromatic imager, and a thermal infrared spectrometer. The mission design allows for concurrent observations of all instruments. Additionally, two spacecraft subsystems will also contribute to the science investigations: the Terminal Tracking Cameras will obtain wide field-of-view imaging near closest approach to determine the shape of each of the Trojan targets and the telecommunication subsystem will carry out Doppler tracking of the spacecraft to determine the mass of each of the Trojan targets.