{"id":3154,"date":"2021-11-02T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=3154"},"modified":"2021-10-20T08:01:43","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T08:01:43","slug":"nasas-lucy-mission-launched-to-study-jupiter-trojan-asteroids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/nasas-lucy-mission-launched-to-study-jupiter-trojan-asteroids\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s \u201cLucy\u201d Mission Launched to Study \u201cJupiter Trojan\u201d Asteroids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now, you may have already known about the asteroid belt, and that it\u2019s situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In fact, a team of scientists just managed to snap photos of the 42 largest space rocks out there<\/a>. As some of you may have guessed already, however, space is never really as simple as it seems\u2014and this goes double for asteroids. As it turns out, there are, in fact, more asteroids than just those located within the asteroid belt. Some of them actually lead or trail the planet Jupiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jupiter actually has some asteroids both leading and trailing it in its orbit called the Jupiter Trojans. Those that lead it are sometimes nicknamed the \u201cGreeks\u201d to differentiate them from the rest of the Trojan asteroids. (NASA\/JPL) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These peculiar asteroids seemingly lost in space are called the Jupiter Trojans<\/em>, or just sometimes called the Trojan asteroids<\/em>. These asteroids are locked in place at the Lagrange points created by the Sun-Jupiter gravitational dance, much like Earth\u2019s own Lagrange points. (In fact, the James Webb Space Telescope is planned to park at one of those spots, generally speaking<\/a>; you can also find more information about Lagrange points there.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA is now dedicated to studying these mysterious space rocks with its recently-launched Lucy<\/em> mission, being the first NASA mission ever sent to the odd asteroid grouping just beyond the main asteroid belt. In doing so, Lucy hopes to illuminate the origins of the planets, as well as the formation of the Solar System itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This artist\u2019s rendition of the Lucy spacecraft shows it passing beside one of the Trojan asteroids. (Southwest Research Institute, 2021) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Said Lucy\u2019s principal investigator and Southwest Research Institute researcher Dr. Hal Levison: \u201cWe started working on the Lucy mission concept early in 2014, so this launch has been long in the making. […] It will still be several years before we get to the first Trojan asteroid, but these objects are worth the wait and all the effort because of their immense scientific value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levison followed: \u201cThey are like diamonds in the sky.\u201d The mission\u2019s name is based off of the Australopithecus afarensis<\/em> specimen AL 288-1<\/em>, more commonly known by its nickname \u201cLucy.\u201d Just as \u201cLucy\u201d gave us new insights into our origins on Earth, the Lucy mission is set to give us new insights into our planet\u2019s origins\u2014as well as the origins of the rest of the Solar System. (The original \u201cLucy\u201d A. afarensis<\/em> specimen was named after The Beatles<\/em> song \u201cLucy In the Sky With Diamonds,\u201d which was played on repeat at the expedition site that found her during the team\u2019s first evening onsite.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucy launched last October 16, and is set to travel through space at roughly 108,000 km\/h (67,009 mi\/h); with its current speed, Lucy is projected to reach the Trojan asteroids for the first time by the year 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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