NASA’s Lucy Begins Camera Tests Ahead of 2027 Trojan Flybys

Four of NASA’s Lucy mission Trojan asteroid targets as seen by the spacecraft in late-March/early-April 2026 moving relative to background stars (circles added to guide the eye). Behind Polymele (upper right) are several background galaxies including one that’s visible as an elongated disc near the left edge of the image. The bright streaks and oval artefact coming from the bottom right corner of the Leucus movie (bottom left) are due to scattered light from a bright star just out of frame called 28 Hydrae, which would be barely visible to the unaided eye viewing from a place on Earth with very dark skies. The faint blobby arc in the Orus movie (bottom right) is caused by scattered sunlight. Orus’ motion is less visible than the other asteroids’ because Lucy took images of it over a shorter time span. The Lucy team plans to get more images of Orus before the spacecraft’s Nov. 2028 encounter with the asteroid.

Source: science.nasa.gov