KinetX’s Role in NASA’s Lucy Mission: Navigating New Frontiers in Space
On April 20, 2025, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft successfully completed its close flyby of asteroid Donaldjohanson, marking a major milestone on its journey toward Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. Throughout this complex mission, KinetX has played a critical role in guiding the spacecraft with unmatched precision.
Lucy, launched in 2021, is on a mission to explore the Trojan asteroids, which hold essential clues about the formation of our Solar System. Before reaching its primary science targets, Lucy flew past Donaldjohanson — a carbon-rich, contact binary asteroid located in the main belt — using high-resolution imaging and optical navigation to refine its path.
The KinetX team successfully navigated Lucy to within 960 km of the asteroid, enabling scientists to capture valuable data using onboard instruments like L’LORRI, L’TES, and L’Ralph. The asteroid’s unusual, cone-shaped neck and unexpected size — around 8 km long and 3.5 km wide — are already providing insight into planetary formation and early solar system dynamics.
“Each of these images confirms Lucy is on track to reach its distant targets,” said Eric Sahr, Lead Optical Navigation Engineer at KinetX. “We’re proud to support this groundbreaking journey.”
With the Donaldjohanson encounter complete, Lucy continues on its voyage toward the Trojan asteroids, with its next major flyby — Eurybates — planned for 2027. KinetX remains responsible for ongoing navigation, ensuring the mission stays on course as it explores some of the oldest and most mysterious objects in our Solar System.
