Lucy Spacecraft will be soon launched by NASA to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. The space agency said that the spacecraft will collect insight into Jupiter solar system’s formation 4.5 billion years ago.
The Lucy Spacecraft was named after an ancient fossil that provided perceptions into the evolution of the human species. The spacecraft is now at Kennedy Space Center for launch arrangements, which comprise packing atop an Atlas V rocket for its 12-year expedition. It will launch on Saturday, October 16 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The mission of the spacecraft is to explore the asteroid mingling the Sun in two throngs, one preceding Jupiter in its orbital path and the other trailing behind it.
Once launched from Earth’s gravity, Lucy will on to a journey of 12-year to eight different asteroids. Lucy will then pass by a single asteroid on its journey to Jupiter’s orbit, where its trajectory will take it by seven more asteroids in the so-called Trojan Belt.
The Trojans are wreckages left from the creation of those planets. NASA also trusts they have not transformed since the birth of the solar system’s planets.
Lucy will hover by its target objects within 400 kilometers of their exteriors and will use its onboard large antenna and gadgets to scrutinize their geology including mass, density, composition, and volume.
The spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin and includes two miles of wire and solar panels which have been placed end-to-end.
The total mission’s cost is $981 million. The spacecraft will be the first solar-powered project this far from the Sun, and will also perceive more asteroids than any other spacecraft before it.
