NASA’s Lucy Mission Begins: KinetX Delivers Successful Post-Launch Navigation Support
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft successfully lifted off aboard an Atlas V 401 from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today, October 16, 2021 at 5:34 am EDT, kicking off its journey to explore several Jupiter trojan asteroids. The Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics (SNAFD) practice of KinetX serves as the flight dynamics and navigation team for the Lucy mission. The KinetX team completed launch navigation operations with a successful determination of Lucy’s post-launch trajectory. The KinetX navigation team will continue monitoring Lucy’s trajectory and determine whether a trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) will be required to maintain its desired course in the coming months. The KinetX navigation team will also begin assisting with calibration of several vehicle components including the thrusters and optical navigation cameras, and begin initial flight preparations for the mission’s next major milestone – Lucy’s first Earth gravity assist in October 2022. More information about the Lucy launch activities can be found here.
