The Lucy spacecraft successfully began a 12-year mission to the so-called Trojan asteroids, a hitherto unexplored region where there may be information to understand how the planet was formed. Solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
NASA’s Lucy mission, which will travel that time observing a main belt asteroid and seven Trojan asteroids, is the first in history dedicated to studying Trojans that can provide information about how the Solar System formed.
After sowing great expectations, the start of the mission today had a splendid sunrise on the east coast of Florida (USA), where the launch took place.
On board an Atlas 5 rocket from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) company, the spacecraft separated from the rocket without any problem, while Lucy’s team of scientists waited “excitedly”, as described on Twitter, the moment of the deployment of its solar panels.
The greatness of space
The launch took place at 05:34 am local time (09:34 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA), to which there was applause during the moment of the separation of the rocket and after the deployment of the two 7 meter long solar panels, essential for the operation of the ship.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said at the time on Twitter: “Believe it or not, Mission Lucy is closer to Jupiter now than when it reaches the Trojan asteroids. The space is BIG! ”.
According to the mission website, Lucy will be the first to explore a population of small bodies known as Trojans, or what is the same, outer asteroids of the Solar System that orbit the Sun “in front” and “behind” the giant and gaseous planet Jupiter.
According to the same source, these asteroids are equidistant between the Sun and Jupiter.
On her mission, Lucy will follow an asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter and seven Trojans, small remnants of the early Solar System trapped in stable orbits and grouped in two “swarms” that guide and escort Jupiter on its way around the Sun.
According to NASA, the seven Trojan asteroids are the Patroclus / Menoetius binary, Eurybates, Queta, Orus, Leucus, and Polymele plus the main belt asteroid DonaldJohanson.
“These primitive bodies contain vital clues to decipher the history of our Solar System and can even inform us about the origins of organic materials, and even life on Earth,” details the site www.lucy.swri.edu.
This portal has counted down since the mission was officially announced until dawn this Saturday, when Lucy took height while attached to the rocket and then separated to undertake her long journey.
“Twelve years, eight asteroids, one ship,” reads the mission’s motto.
The spacecraft will study the asteroids in a few minutes, while flying over them in the closest distance that will be an average of about 1,000 kilometers.
For this, it is equipped with the instruments L’TES, L’Ralph, and L’LORRI, which will collect the necessary data to try to unravel the mysteries of the formation of the planets.
According to NASA, Lucy will use her remote sensing on seven different Trojan asteroids to address science objectives such as “surface geology,” “surface color and composition,” and will search for rings and satellites of Trojan asteroids.
The mission is named after the fossil Australopithecus Afarensis, more than 3 million years old, which was discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia and named after the Beatles song, “Lucy in the sky with diamonds.”
That fossil was a key find for the study of human evolution and, now, this space mission may be a unique opportunity to understand our planetary origins and perhaps to find out how life came to Earth.
An interactive twelve-year journey
“The space is big. Really big. And traveling such far distances takes a long time. It will be six years before Mission Lucy finally reaches its first Trojan asteroid. Stay in touch with Lucy’s journey by creating yours, ”NASA invited on social media.
Since the beginning of this month, the US agency has been tempting space lovers to participate in the mission in many ways.
For example, he has invited the curious to build their own time capsule, just as the ship carries a time capsule with inspiring messages from award-winning thinkers and poets of various nationalities.
It has also provided a “virtual launch passport” for the curious.
“Where will you be and what will you do in August 2027? And in March 2033? NASA knows exactly where the Lucy spacecraft will be: flying through never-before-explored Trojan asteroids!
For example, on April 20, 2025 “Lucy will fly by the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson”, and on August 12, 2027 “she will have her first encounter not with one, but with two Trojan asteroids: Eurybates (3548 ) and its satellite, Queta ”, details NASA.
The mission ends in 2033 but Lucy will continue to “orbit the Sun, passing through swarms of alternate Trojans for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years,” the space agency projected.
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