LAUNCH OF LUCY MISSION TO THE TROJAN ASTEROIDS, Oct 16, 2021, Cape Canaveral, FL, 5:34 am ET

NASA plans to launch the Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL on October 16, 2021 at 5:34 am ET.

NASA TV coverge begins at 5:00 am ET.

Several briefings about the mission will take place on October 13, 14 and 15.  See the separate calendar entries for those events.

Various NASA sources say Lucy has either a 21-day or 23-day launch window with a one-hour opportunity each of those days, in case of a delay on October 16.

Lucy is not an acronym. The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor found in Ethiopia in 1974 and given that name. NASA says: “This Lucy mission promises to revolutionize our understanding of our Solar System’s origins and evolution just as the Lucy fossil revolutionized our understanding of humans as a species.”