Managing the Lucy Mission

Lucy is NASA’s 13th Discovery-class mission. It will be the first mission to encounter seven Trojan asteroids in a series of five flybys. Lucy is led by Dr. Hal Levison of the Southwest Research Institute. As the Principal Investigator, Dr. Levison is accountable to NASA for the success of the investigation, with full responsibility for its scientific integrity and execution within committed cost and schedule. Day to day management of the Lucy project is delegated to Goddard Space Flight Center. During Lucy’s development, the project experienced a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that threatened the team’s ability to meet the planetary launch window. Despite this challenge, Lucy launched on time and under budget. This chapter discusses key factors that enabled project success.