Spacecraft have actually gone to asteroids prior to, and even brought samples back to Earth. Lucy is distinct: itll visit a total of eight asteroids, including seven Jupiter Trojans and one main-belt asteroid. All these visits will take Lucy 12 years to complete.
Trojan asteroids are asteroids that share Jupiters orbit. There are two groups of them; one ahead of Jupiter and one behind, both by 60 degrees. There are almost 10,000 Jupiter Trojans, and to astronomers, theyre like fossils from the early days of the Solar System, when planets were forming.
The 2 groups of Trojans are called the “Trojan camp” and the “Greek camp.” The white ring is the main asteroid belt. Image Credit: By Mdf at English Wikipedia– Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1951518
” A true mission of discovery, Lucy is abundant with opportunity to read more about these strange Trojan asteroids and much better comprehend the formation and development of the early solar system,” said NASAs Thomas Zurbuchen.
Whats Lucy wanting to discover? Why are asteroids sort of like fossils?
The usually accepted idea of how the Solar System formed is called the nebular hypothesis. It mentions that the Solar System began as a cloud of swirling gas and dust. The Sun formed in the center of all of that, and the planets gobbled up almost everything else. Not quite.
Asteroids mainly escaped the planet formation procedure. In the case of the Trojan asteroids, scientists think theyre remnants of the product that made up the huge planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).
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Lucy is special: itll check out an overall of 8 asteroids, consisting of 7 Jupiter Trojans and one main-belt asteroid. Trojan asteroids are asteroids that share Jupiters orbit. While the Trojan asteroids are Lucys main target, its visit to the main belt asteroid is likewise scientifically fascinating. Asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson is most likely the outcome of a more current crash in the asteroid belt, making it one of the more youthful asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Donaldjohanson will be the very first asteroid Lucy gos to, on its way to the Trojans.
One surprising feature of the Jupiter Trojans is that their surfaces vary from one another. Scientists think that most likely methods they formed in various places and were moved into their current orbits as the Solar Systems worlds formed.
Lucys overarching mission is to figure out and attempt what all that diversity informs us about the history of our planetary system. To do that, NASA has actually described 4 science objectives for the objective:
Surface geology: the shape, the reflectivity, crater qualities, crust structure and layering, and the relative ages of the surfaces.Surface colour and composition: the qualities of the existence and the regolith and distribution of minerals, organics.interiors, and ices and Bulk Properties: Lucy will study any fractures, effect craters, exposed bed linen and ejecta to determine the asteroids interior composition.Satellites and Rings: Lucy will find any satellites and rings that the Trojan asteroids might have.
This diagram illustrates Lucys orbital course. The spacecrafts course (green) is shown in a context where Jupiter stays stationary, providing the trajectory its pretzel-like shape. Credit: Southwest Research Institute
While the Trojan asteroids are Lucys main target, its see to the primary belt asteroid is likewise clinically interesting. Asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson is likely the result of a more current collision in the asteroid belt, making it one of the younger asteroids in the primary belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The Lucy objective is named after the fossilized skeleton of a really early type of human called Australopithecus afarensis as a nod to the fossil-like nature of asteroids. The Lucy fossil changed our understanding of our own advancement, and researchers hope the Lucy mission will do the very same for our understanding of the Solar System.
NASAs Lucy spacecraft is on its method. The spacecraft was released into space on Saturday, October 16th on an Atlas 5 rocket. Its main target is Jupiters Trojan asteroids.