NASA launches Lucy to monitor Jupiter’s asteroids

NASA is set to launch Lucy next month. The 12-year mission, which begins on October 16, will be the first to observe asteroids in the same orbit as Jupiter. During its voyage, the spacecraft will first fly over an asteroid in the main asteroid belt in 2025 (between Mars and Jupiter), followed by seven Trojan asteroids in the following years.

These are the latter, “Although they are located in a very limited space, they are very different from each other.”, Explained Tuesday, September 28th During a press conference (In English) Hall Lewison, Principal Analyst for this work. “For example, they have very different colors, some gray, some red.”

So one of the theories is that these asteroids formed before they were attracted there beyond the orbit of Jupiter and these colors reflect where they came from. “Whatever Lucy discovers, it will give us essential clues as to how our solar system formed.”Said Lori Claes, director of NASA’s planetary science division.

Equipped with large solar panels, the spacecraft was the first solar-powered spacecraft to orbit more asteroids than ever before. This will allow researchers to study the geography of asteroids, their composition and their exact density, mass and size. The total cost of the work is estimated at $ 891 million.