A United Launch Alliance V 401 rocket, with NASA’s Lucy spacecraft atop, makes its way from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Vertical Integration Facility to Space Launch Complex 41 on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, in preparation for its targeted 5:34 a.m. EDT liftoff on Saturday, Oct. 16. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch. During its 12-year primary mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by one asteroid in the solar system’s main belt and seven Trojan asteroids. Additionally, Lucy’s path will circle back to Earth three times for gravity assists, making it the first spacecraft ever to return to the vicinity of Earth from the outer solar system.