This week’s post is devoted to this interesting new mission, after we’ve just enjoyed the last supermoon of 2020. Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojans, asteroids that occupy about the same orbit around the Sun as Jupiter but cluster ahead of or behind the gas giant. The mission got its name from the fossilised human ancestor (“Lucy”) which provided a unique insight into humanity’s evolution. In the same way, the Lucy mission will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.
Lucy will launch in October 2021 and, with boosts from Earth’s gravity, will complete a 12-year journey to eight different asteroids — a Main Belt asteroid and seven Trojans, four of which are members of “two-for-the-price-of-one” binary systems.
“The dark-red P- and D-type Trojans resemble those found in the Kuiper Belt of icy bodies that extends beyond the orbit of Neptune. The C-types are found mostly in the outer parts of the Main Belt of asteroids, between Mars and Jupiter. All of the Trojans are thought to be abundant in dark carbon compounds. Below an insulating blanket of dust, they are probably rich in water and other volatile substances. No other space mission in history has been launched to as many different destinations in independent orbits around our sun. Lucy will show us, for the first time, the diversity of the primordial bodies that built the planets. Lucy’s discoveries will open new insights into the origins of our Earth and ourselves.” (NASA Press Release, 2019).
Just this week, scientists have just found a tiny asteroid moon for NASA mission to visit. The Hubble Space Telescope discovered a tiny companion around the asteroid Eurybates, and NASA’s Lucy spacecraft –the first specifically aimed at the Trojan asteroids –decided to add the moonlet its already busy itinerary. And maybe the shopping list is not completed yet.
Steph, I’d not heard of the Trojan asteroids before this post. Are they part of the Kuiper Belt or separate from it? It seems like there’s a lot more in our solar system than originally thought — or that I originally thought! And I still think Pluto is a planet… 🙂 Cinda
It is interesting, isn’t it? The Trojans are actually in the same Jupiter’s orbit. (see this for more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_trojan). And yes, I really look forward to seeing what’s come out from this mission. 🙂