Liftoff is on Saturday (Oct. 16) at 5:34 a.m. EDT (0934 GMT).
Update: Blue Origin successfully launched its second crewed flight with four passengers aboard, including the actor who famously played Captain Kirk in the original "Star Trek." Read our full story here.
NASA's Lucy mission to explore asteroids in Jupiter's orbit will launch on Saturday (Oct. 16). These asteroids, called the Trojans, are nearly untouched "fossils" from the early days of the solar system, and scientists have never been able to see them up close. Read more about the mission here.
On Thursday (Oct. 14), NASA will hold two briefings about the mission. At 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT), tune in to learn about the science Lucy will tackle during its mission; at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), engineers will explain how the mission works.
On Friday (Oct. 15) at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), NASA will also hold a Science Live about the mission.
Then, come back on Saturday (Oct. 16) to watch coverage of Lucy's launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base. Blast-off is scheduled for 5:34 a.m. EDT (0934 GMT), with a launch window about 75 minutes long. Live coverage will begin at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT).
You can watch all three segments in the window above, courtesy of NASA, or directly through the agency's website.
NASA will provide coverage of upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for Lucy, the agency’s first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
Lucy is scheduled to launch no earlier than 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 16, on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Live launch coverage will begin at 5 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. NASA will hold a prelaunch briefing Wednesday, Oct. 13, and science and engineering briefings Oct. 14.
Over its 12-year primary mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids. The spacecraft will fly by one asteroid in the solar system’s main belt and seven Trojan asteroids. Lucy’s path will circle back to Earth three times for gravity assists, which will make it the first spacecraft ever to return to our planet’s vicinity from the outer solar system.
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, all media participation in news conferences will be remote dial-in only. A phone bridge will be provided for each briefing.
Full mission coverage is as follows. Information is subject to change:
Thursday, Oct. 14
1 p.m.: Lucy science briefing with the following participants:
Adriana Ocampo, Lucy program executive, NASA Headquarters.
Cathy Olkin, Lucy deputy principal investigator, Southwest Research Institute.
Keith Noll, Lucy project scientist, Goddard.
Hal Weaver, principal investigator for Lucy’s L'LORRI instrument, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Phil Christensen, principal investigator for Lucy’s L'TES instrument, Arizona State University.
Dennis Reuter, principal investigator for Lucy’s L’Ralph instrument, Goddard.
3 p.m.: Lucy engineering briefing with the following participants:
Joan Salute, associate director for flight programs, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters.
Jessica Lounsbury, Lucy project systems engineer, Goddard.
Katie Oakman, Lucy structures and mechanisms lead, Lockheed Martin Space.
Coralie Adam, deputy navigation team chief, KinetX Aerospace.
Friday, Oct. 15
3:30 p.m.: NASA Science Live with the following participants:
Carly Howett, assistant director of the Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute.
Wil Santiago, deep space exploration engineer, Lockheed Martin Space.
Donya Douglas-Bradshaw, Lucy project manager, Goddard.
Brittine Young, mentor for the NASA Lucy L’SPACE academy.
Wilbert Ruperto, ambassador for the NASA Lucy L’SPACE academy.
NASA TV Launch Coverage
NASA TV live coverage will begin at 5 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 16.
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