Lucy Spacecraft Launched By NASA
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NASA launched the first-of-its-kind mission on October 16, 2021, to study the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter.
Highlights
♦ Trojan asteroids are two large clusters of space rocks, considered pieces of primordial material forming the solar system’s outer planets.
♦ The space probe is called Lucy and it has been packed inside a unique cargo capsule lifted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
♦ The Lucy spacecraft was carried by an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (UAL).
Lucy
♦ Lucy mission is a 12-year expedition that will study a record number of asteroids.
♦ The first mission will be to explore the Trojans, and Spacecraft will journey to eight different asteroids.
♦ It will also visit the main-belt asteroid, and seven Jupiter trojans and Spacecraft is the centrepiece of a US$981 million mission.
Trojans
♦ Jupiter trojans, also known as trojan asteroids, are a large group of asteroids that share the orbit of planet Jupiter around the Sun.
♦ Each trojan revolves around one of Jupiter’s stable Lagrange points, either L4 or L5.
♦ They are distributed in two elongated and arched regions around these Lagrangian points.
