Today, Lucy’s original skeleton is stored in a specially designed, argon-filled vault at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. She has toured museums worldwide (as a replica; the original rarely leaves Ethiopia). Her discovery taught us that upright walking is the oldest defining human trait, and that our ancestors were small-brained, tree-climbing bipeds long before they invented tools or language.
The Lucy spacecraft launched on October 16, 2021, aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. After a series of complex maneuvers, the spacecraft will follow a complex trajectory, flying by the Jupiter Trojan asteroids in 2027 and 2028.
In short, Lucy is not just a pile of old bones. She is a 3.2-million-year-old witness to the moment our lineage committed to walking—and in doing so, set the stage for everything that makes us human. lucy 3.2 million
Scientists dated the volcanic ash layers (tephra) surrounding the fossil using the . Volcanic ash contains radioactive potassium-40, which decays into argon-40 at a known rate. By measuring the ratio, geologists determined the ash below Lucy was older than 3.2 million years, and the ash above her was younger. This placed her death precisely around 3.2 million years ago .
" (AL 288-1) is a 3.2-million-year-old fossil of the species Australopithecus afarensis Today, Lucy’s original skeleton is stored in a
In 2016, a 3.6-million-year-old skull nicknamed "Little Foot" and a 3.8-million-year-old jawbone from Kenya ( Australopithecus deyiremeda ) suggested that multiple types of hominids lived at the same time as .
At the time of her discovery, Lucy was the oldest and most complete early human ancestor ever found. Her age of approximately placed her at a critical "halfway point" between modern humans and our common ancestor with chimpanzees. The Lucy spacecraft launched on October 16, 2021,
The debate surrounding has always centered on one question: Was she fully human in her movement, or still an ape?
The Lucy mission has significant implications for our understanding of the solar system and its evolution. The discoveries made by this mission will:
Discover the story of Lucy (3.2 million years old), the Australopithecus afarensis fossil that proved humans walked upright before they had large brains. Learn about her discovery, death, and legacy.