NASA will launch its Lucy spacecraft this week for a 12-year mission to Trojan asteroids

If you wish to expertise the historic launch occasion, you can watch it on-line by way of NASA TV. NASA says that on this mission the spacecraft must full a 12-year journey to eight completely different asteroids.

The spacecraft will journey to the outer Solar System in the course of the 12-year mission. Lucy will discover historic asteroids, often known as Trojan asteroids, that are stated to orbit the Sun.

NASA describes Trojan asteroids as “time capsules from the birth of our solar system”. Trojan asteroids “circle the Sun in two clusters, with one group ahead of Jupiter, the other behind it.” They are named after characters from Greek mythology.

Trojan asteroids are stated to orbit in the identical path as the biggest planet in our photo voltaic system, which is Jupiter. Lucy is the primary spacecraft to go to these asteroids on this area of our photo voltaic system.

The spacecraft will assist in acquiring knowledge, which in flip will assist scientists delve deeper into the traditional historical past of the Solar System.

“Together with Lucy, we are visiting eight never-before-seen asteroids in 12 years with one spacecraft. This is a great opportunity for discovery as we probe the distant past of our solar system”, NASA’s Scientist Tom Statler, talking in regards to the venture in a press release, stated.

NASA hopes that the Lucy mission will “revolutionize our knowledge of the origins of the planets and the formation of the Solar System.”

As a part of a 12-year-long mission, Lucy will discover a “record-breaking number of asteroids.”

“The spacecraft will fly by one asteroid and 7 Trojan asteroids in the principle belt of the Solar System. “Lucy’s path will orbit Earth three times thanks to a gravity assist, making it the first spacecraft to return from the outer solar system to the vicinity of our planet,” NASA stated in a press release.