NASA to launch Mission Lucy this week
- NASA has confirmed that it is set to launch its latest mission which will look to explore asteroids, to learn more about the early days of our solar system.
- The Lucy spacecraft is currently scheduled to liftoff on October 16.
- The spacecraft will travel to the outer solar system during the course of the 12-year mission.
About the mission
- Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojans.
- The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor (called “Lucy” by her discoverers) whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity's evolution.
- Likewise, the Lucy mission will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.
- It is estimated that the mission, which will be powered by solar energy, will run for 12 years.
- During this time, it would visit eight asteroids- a Main Belt asteroid and seven Trojans spread over a distance of a whopping 6.3 billion kilometers.
Main Belt Asteroids:
- These are asteroids found in the main asteroid region, between Mars and Jupiter.
- This region is estimated to contain somewhere between 1.1-1.9 million asteroids.
Trojans
- Trojans are asteroids that share an orbit with a larger planet.
- NASA reports the presence of Jupiter, Neptune and Mars trojans.
- In 2011, they reported an Earth trojan as well."