19 Mar 2021

Seen here in late 2020 nearly fully assembled, the 13-foot tall (about 4 meters) Lucy spacecraft is lifted back to its dolly as the Lockheed Martin team in Denver, Colorado, continues production. Since Lucy will be exploring deep space hundreds of millions of miles away, the 6.5-foot (about 2 meters) in diameter high gain antenna will be critical for communications to and from Earth as the spacecraft visits seven different Trojan asteroids and one main belt asteroid. The spacecraft will complete its journey over the course of 12 years, and its many maneuvers will be fueled by the propulsion tanks seen here. Lucy will head to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this summer for processing ahead of its launch window, which opens Oct. 16, 2021.