The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all geared up to launch ‘Lucy’, its inaugural mission to investigate the Jupiter Trojan Asteroids. This groundbreaking venture aims to deepen our understanding of the solar system’s early stages via comprehensive exploration of eight asteroids.
About The Lucy Mission
This solar-powered endeavor will span over 12 years, during which Lucy will travel approximately 6.3 billion km to visit eight different asteroids. Named after the 3.2 million-year-old hominin ancestor, Lucy, the mission gets its name implying a deep dive into the ancestry of the solar system. The spacecraft is expected to take off on an Atlas V 401 rocket.
First Encounter: Asteroid Donald Johnson
Lucy’s maiden rendezvous will be with the asteroid Donald Johnson, located in the primary belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid is named after the paleoanthropologist who discovered the remains of Lucy.
The Significance of The Mission
The Trojan asteroids, formed from the same material that gave birth to the planets around 4 billion years ago, hold crucial information about the creation of the solar system. The key goal of this mission is to comprehend the composition of the diverse asteroids that comprise the Trojan swarms, determine the mass and densities of these materials, and explore potential satellites and rings orbiting the Trojan asteroids. This insight will further our understanding of their genesis, evolution, and distinctive features.
Understanding Asteroids
Asteroids, often referred to as minor planets, are rocky objects orbiting the Sun, significantly smaller than planets. They can be categorized into three groups: The Main Belt of Asteroids, located between Mars and Jupiter, containing roughly 1.1-1.9 million asteroids; Trojan asteroids, sharing orbit with larger planets like Jupiter, Neptune, and Mars; and Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA), whose orbits pass closely to Earth. The Trojan asteroids, of particular interest to the Lucy mission, are believed to be remnants of the early solar system and exist in “swarms” along Jupiter’s orbit.
Jupiter: The Gas Giant
The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all other planets combined. Classified as a Jovian or Gas Giant Planet alongside Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, Jupiter is surrounded by a dense atmosphere of helium and hydrogen. It completes one rotation every 10 hours, while its orbit around the Sun takes approximately 12 Earth years.
Jupiter is also known for its more than 75 moons, including major ones like Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, each possessing unique characteristics. It has a faint ring system discovered in 1979 by the Voyager mission. To date, nine spacecraft – seven flybys and two orbiters – have visited Jupiter, the latest being Juno, which arrived in 2016.
