NASA's Lucy Space Vessel Set to Obtain New Astronomical Records in Trojan Asteroid Investigation Near Jupiter

Lucy, NASA's asteroid probe, is set to launch next month to begin its 12-month observation and analysis of the farther reach of space. Lucy will launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and be lifted off aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Among the key interest of the missions is to get Lucy as closely as possible to the notable space rocks throughout the span of 12 years.

Lucy: First Solar-Powered Spacecraft to be Farthest from Sun?

Boulder's Southwest Research Institute SwRI expert and Lucy's principal researcher Hal Levison said in an NBC News report that the space probe is expected to visit space rocks or asteroids more than any vessels have done before in the entire astronomical history. The mission may get ahold of a new record in other aspects and could be the first solar-powered vehicle that will travel farthest from the sun. Lucy will also continue other studies that have been conducted by NASA's spacecraft that was hovering in the planet Jupiter's orbit since 2016 called the Juno probe.

Trojan asteroids are among Lucy's main subjects in the upcoming mission. These space rocks are known to hover in space with respect to the sun but are also present in the orbital regions of Jupiter. The Trojan asteroids are separated into two groups. The first is the cluster that 'leads' the titan planet, and the other is the group that follows Jupiter's trail.

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New Records Expected to Obtain in Asteroid Belt and Trojan Space Rock Missions

Today, there are over 7,000 pieces of Trojan asteroids recorded in Jupiter's orbit, however, the true total is expected to exceed the known quantity due to the population that is still undiscovered. Levison said that if measured, the number of Trojan asteroids could be a lot more than the sea of space rocks located between Mars and Jupiter called the asteroid belt.

Lucy will be the first spacecraft from Earth that is anticipated to be most closer to the presence of the Trojan asteroids and make a much clearer observation than our land-based and orbital observatory telescopes.

Lucy's mission description detailed that the initial studies of the Trojan asteroids were indeed primordial materials based on the planetary evolution models. These types of materials are among the many compositions that crafted the outer planets. In short, the Trojan asteroids are expected to contain comprehensive clues to the origin of our solar system that took place 4 billion years ago.

Lucy's flight throughout the outer planets and into the premises of the gigantic Jupiter is calculated to have a long process. But before it reaches space past the asteroid belt, Lucy will first get to other space rocks that are located inside the inner planets and could fly by on Earth in the process.

The first space rock that will be examined by Lucy is a member of the asteroid belt itself known as the 52246 Donaldjohanson, which was named after the paleoanthropologist expert who discovered the Lucy fossil, Donald Johanson. The Lucy fossil is a female species of the hominin group known as the Australopithecus afarensis that is theorized to have lived some time in 3.2 million years ago.