NASA’sLucy missionis ready to start its 12 - year journeying to study Jupiter ’s Trojan asteroids for the first meter . Launching Saturday , the platter - burst geographic expedition will natter eight dissimilar asteroids – one in the primary asteroid belt and seven Trojans , the most identification number of destinations with dissimilar orbits around the Sun in one commission ever .
The Trojans are space rock music that follow and precede Jupiter in its eye socket . Four of these Dardan are members of “ two for the price of one ” binary systems , making their geographic expedition much more commodious . These asteroids are think to have experienced fewer collision with other asteroid than those in the inside Solar System or chief asteroid belt , which means they could provide penetration into the other Solar System and perchance even the pieces from which the planets formed .
“ With Lucy , we ’re going to eight never - before - seen asteroid in 12 yr with a individual ballistic capsule , ” Tom Statler , Lucy project scientist at NASA Headquarters , say in astatement . “ This is a fantastic chance for discovery as we probe into our Solar System ’s distant past . ”
The mission is named after theAustralopithecus afarensisfossil remains informally know as " Lucy " . Lucy changed the path we thought about early hominins , reveal they could take the air upright earlier than thought , and is debate an antecedent to all New hominins , including human race . The Trojan asteroids are also “ fossilized corpse ” from the original planetary building blocks of the Solar System .
Scientists have a bun in the oven to find incredible new insights into the formative years of our little box of the universe as the charge takings . There are competing theory about how the Trojans came to have their current orbits . If Lucy can adjudicate this question , it could tell us a destiny about other aspects of the Solar System ’s formation , including the journeying the gargantuan satellite went on to turn over their current location .
The first asteroid Lucy will chance will be 52246 Donaldjohanson ( named after the spotter of Lucy ) in the main asteroid belt in April 2025 .
The commission launch window open up at 5:34 am EDT Saturday , October 16 . The spacecraft will launch on a United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) Atlas Phoebe 401 Eruca sativa from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in Florida . you’re able to watch the launching last on theNASA websiteor via the livestream below :
