NSN Webinar Series - Lucy Mission: An Asteroid Investigation with Alena Gavrilenko
Join the NASA Night Sky Network on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at 6:00 PM Pacific Time (9:00 PM Eastern) along with Alena Gavrilenko where we’ll discuss NASA’s Lucy mission, an epic 12-year journey to explore 11 asteroids, including Jupiter’s Trojans.
The Lucy mission represents a groundbreaking journey into our Solar System, set to explore the enigmatic Trojan Asteroids, remnants from the early formation of giant planets. Launched in October 2021, Lucy embarks on a historic 12-year expedition, traveling nearly 4 billion miles to visit eight Trojan asteroids, thus becoming the first spacecraft to explore this unique population. This presentation will discuss the scientific significance of the Trojan Asteroids as preserved materials from the Solar System’s infancy, and how Lucy’s instruments – including high-resolution imaging and spectrometry – will yield insights into these ancient bodies' composition, formation, and evolution. We will highlight Lucy's trajectory, including gravity assists from Earth, and the innovative technologies that enable autonomous operations while capturing detailed data during swift flybys. Furthermore, we will explore how this mission's findings could answer critical questions about the origins of water and organic materials necessary for life on Earth, as well as the dynamic processes that shaped the giant planets. Join us on this extraordinary journey of exploration and discovery, as we delve into the scientific objectives and the collaborative spirit that drives the Lucy mission forward.
About Alena Gavrilenko:
Alena Gavrilenko is a Master of Science in Space Studies student at American Public University, specializing in planetary science. She is a member of the APUS Analog Research Group and served as the research project lead for the SAM (Space Analog for the Moon and Mars) mission ARG-1S and the ILMAH (Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat) mission ARG-7i. Alena is an alumna of the NASA L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy and the NASA L’SPACE Proposal Writing and Evaluation Academy. Currently, she serves as a Lucy Mission Ambassador and enjoys sharing her passion for the Lucy Mission and space exploration with the community.
Night Sky Network
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
https://astrosociety.org
