Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of posts introducing members of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) Lucy team at Kennedy Space Center. The Lucy probe will lift off from the Florida spaceport on its journey to deep space.
By Danielle Sempsrott
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 16, 2021. The mission will be the first ever to study the Jupiter Trojan asteroids – two separate swarms of asteroids that are thought to be remnants of the initial material that formed the planets within the solar system. The mission will provide a glimpse into the origins of our solar system as we know it.
Meet one of the key members of the Lucy team:
Name: Lance Landrum
Official title: Mission Communications Engineer
Job responsibilities: I work at Hangar AE located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, where we help provide the spacecraft customer (Lucy, in this case) the communication they require when they come to process and launch here at the spaceport. We facilitate and provide network transport for their data, voice nets for comm, and video views of the spacecraft processing facility and launch pad.
Time working for NASA: I started with the LSP Comm and Telemetry team as a Pathways intern in the summer of 2019 and joined full time in the summer of 2020.
Degrees earned: I attended the University of South Florida and earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering.
Hometown: I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and joined the U.S. Army at the ripe age of 18. I have lived all over, but most recently, I have settled in Orlando, Florida.
Family: I just celebrated my 10-year anniversary – shoutout to the wifey. We have two energetic and awesome kids, Vinay, 8, and Leela, 6.
Hobbies: During the pandemic, I got into stargazing, but I am an amateur at best. I also enjoy hiking, visiting our beautiful Florida state and national parks, and snorkeling when I get the chance.
Fun fact: After I left the military, I backpacked and traveled the western United States. After a few months, I ended up at an ashram (yoga retreat center) in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada. I lived and worked there for a year, studied yoga and meditation, experienced a real winter, and eventually met my wife, Aarti.