NASA’s Lucy spacecraft just passed Earth on its way to Mars and won’t be back for another two years

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Lucy’s flyby came on the one-year anniversary of its launch, the first high-speed close encounter of a planned 12-year mission to visit the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, meanwhile, has shared animations on Twitter illustrating Lucy’s Earth flyby and subsequent mission. Lucy will then head back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby of our planet in 2031, which will put the spacecraft on a course to visit the trailing population of Jupiter Trojans in 2033. open image in gallery An illustration of the unusual flight path of Nasa’s Lucy mission, which will flyby Earth several times during its 12-year mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids You can follow Lucy’s current trajectory and watch an animation showing its future motion relative to Earth, asteroid targets, and the planet Jupiter by going to Nasa’s whereislucy.space website.