| 
           
           | 
          
            
               The Lucy mission launched
                on October 16, 2021 to begin a 12-year journey to
                explore the Jupiter Trojans, the last major reservoir of
                Solar System small bodies not yet explored by
                spacecraft.  The Trojans are a key dynamical class
                that likely have remained stable in their distant orbits
                for billions of years, containing a sample of bodies
                from different parts of the Solar System captured after
                migration of the outer planets.  As such, they can
                be considered as well-preserved "fossils" of the early
                epoch of planetary formation.  I will present an
                overview of the Lucy mission and spacecraft, the science
                motivations and what we currently know about the
                Trojans, and what has happened so far in the first few
                years of the mission, which includes two successful
                practice flybys of main belt asteroids. 
               
            
            
              
             
            
            
              
             
             
            
           | 
           
           |