Everything you need to know about NASA's Lucy mission, the first spacecraft to fly to a Trojan asteroid on Jupiter

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will launch on October 16 on its 12-year voyage to Jupiter.
Its mission is to study the Trojan asteroids on Jupiter and learn more about how the solar system formed.
It will be the first spacecraft to fly to a Trojan asteroid on Jupiter.

NASA He is preparing for his Lucy mission which is scheduled to take off on October 16 next week. It will be the first spacecraft to explore a Trojan asteroid on Jupiter, and also the first to examine multiple independent solar system targets. Lucy’s mission is a 12 year journey making it NASA’s longest mission to date.

How to watch NASA’s Lucy mission

Lucy is scheduled to be launched from Earth on October 16 next week. It will be launched aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket. Takeoff is scheduled at 02:34 PST which will be at 15:04 IST for Indian viewers. You can watch the live broadcast on NASA TV via this link.

What is a Trojan asteroid?

The Trojan asteroid is named after a character from Greek mythology. These are mostly leftover asteroids from the formation of the Solar System. According to NASA, the Trojan asteroids orbit the sun in two groups where one precedes and the other follows Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. This asteroid is described as a strange group of rocks and snowflakes that did not become planets when the solar system formed. This is why Trojan is the best guide left to learn more about the formation of the solar system.

How will the mission help?

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will be closely studying the Trojan asteroid, and it is hoped that it will help scientists learn more about how the planets formed in our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, as well as why they ended up in their current formation. Scientists will use Lucy’s black and white camera to count the number of craters on the asteroid’s surface, allowing them to study the environment the asteroid experienced billions of years ago.

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

The first spacecraft will fly above Earth twice and use the planet’s gravity to propel itself toward the Trojan. Lucy’s mission will be a 12 year journey. In 2025, his planned flight will see Lucy fly over Donald Johansson, which orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft will reach its first Trojan swarm in August 2026. In September 2027, it will fly past Polymele and Leucus in 2028 and then Orus in November 2028.

After that Lucy swung behind the Earth for a third gravitational aid on the other side of Jupiter. Here she will meet Petrocles and Monetius in the year 2033. Lucy’s 12-year journey is expected to end in two ways – returning to Earth as an artifact or being thrown into the sun or out of the solar system by Jupiter.

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