HIGP planetary scientist selected by NASA to join Lucy asteroid mission

NASA's Lucy mission, shown in this artist's concept, is the first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Credit: NASA

Emily Costello, a planetary scientist at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, was selected by NASA as one of eight participating scientists to join its Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are remnants of the early solar system trapped on stable orbits associated with, but not close to, the planet Jupiter. 

On the Lucy mission, Costello will contribute to the goal of understanding the nature and history of Trojan asteroids by providing insights into the role of meteoritic impacts in shaping the surfaces of the Trojans. 

“Impacts are a pervasive geological process on small bodies, so it is critical that we accurately decipher how these impacts shape the formation and evolution of the asteroids,” said Costello, who is a researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

The impact of impacts

Launched in 2021, the Lucy spacecraft is the first space mission to explore the diverse group of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Trojan asteroids orbit in two “swarms” that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit around the Sun.

Impacts from meteors mix the surface of these bodies and muddle geologic layers, called strata. Impacts play a crucial role in erasing and homogenizing certain surface features, such as crater rays, and in the evolution of chemical and physical characteristics. Leveraging her impact modeling expertise and targeted observations of craters and the material they propel outward, Costello will provide the Lucy team with a key piece of the surface geology puzzle.

“The history written and rewritten by impacts will influence the interpretation of all observations by the Lucy mission’s scientific instruments that view Trojan surfaces,” Costello said. “So, it’s thrilling to be able to help interpret the first ever close-up look at these likely ancient asteroids.”

More about the Lucy mission

Over its 12-year mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by three asteroids in the solar system’s main asteroid belt, and by eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter. Lucy also will fly by Earth three times to get a push from its gravity, making it the first spacecraft to return to the vicinity of Earth from the outer solar system.

The Lucy mission is named after the fossilized skeleton of an early hominin (pre-human ancestor) that was found in Ethiopia in 1974 and named “Lucy”, for the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, by the team of paleoanthropologists who discovered it. Just as the Lucy fossil provides unique insights into human evolution, the Lucy mission promises to expand knowledge of planetary origins.

Portions of this content are courtesy of NASA.

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