NASA has successfully launched its Lucy space probe from Cape Canaveral in Florida, which is off on its 12-year mission to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. The Trojan asteroids orbit the sun along the same orbit as Jupiter, which is very unusual in the solar system, as orbits are usually cleared by the dominant body in it. Scientists believe these asteroids hold important clues about how our solar system formed, and we should learn more about how they form in general.
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According to NASA, it is their first-ever single-aircraft mission that will explore so many different asteroids.
Lucy is named for the fossilized human skeleton discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, which provided key insights into human evolution. It was named after the famous Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which was being played by the archaeologists at the site when the discovery was made. NASA says, “Lucy the spacecraft will provide insights into our evolution much the way her fossil counterpart did, only this time on a planetary scale.”
To get to its destination Lucy needs to follow a complicated flight path. It won’t have the assistance of multiple planets that could slingshot it along its way. To help it achieve its desired trajectory towards the asteroids, it will use Earth multiple times, much like gaining height on a trampoline with multiple bounces.
After heading around the sun, it will link up back with Earth for its first slingshot next year. That gravity assist will then accelerate towards Mars’ orbit, which Lucy will then use to fall back towards Earth for its last slingshot in 2024. This will push the spacecraft toward the Donaldjohanson asteroid in 2025. Then it will arrive at the Trojan asteroids in the year 2027. After the four planned passes around the asteroids, it will head back to Earth again for a final slingshot in 2031, which will send it back to the Trojan asteroids for a planned 2033 arrival.
