NASA prepares to launch Lucy mission to explore unique group of asteroids near Jupiter

NASA plans to launch a rocket in October 2021 to study a unique group of asteroids near Jupiter. According to a press te, US ncy, under Lucy mission, will be exploring origins of life’s building blocks among some of most primitive objects in solar system, Trojan asteroids.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, NASA informed that mission moved one step closer as last week as researchers and engineers begin testing and integration phase of project. 

Lucy Principal Investigator Hal Levison, of Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said, “ one anticipated that we would be building a craft under se circumstances. But I once again have been impressed by this team's creativity and resiliency to overcome any challenge placed before m”. 

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NASA concluded a critical System Integration Review of mission which ensured segments, components, and subsystems, scientific instrumentation, electrical and communication systems, and navigation systems are on schedule. It also confirmed that facilities, support personnel, and plans and procedures are on schedule to support integration.

successful completion of System Integration Review means that project can w proceed with assembling and testing craft in preparations for launch. However, according to press release, independent reviews will also be conducting ar study of mission sometime later this year. 

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Lucy Mission  

Lucy, named after famous human ancestor skeleton, will be first mission to study Trojan asteroids, which is a population of small bodies orbiting Sun 'leading' and 'tailing' Jupiter and are at  same distance from Sun as gas giant.

It will also be first mission in history to explore so many different destinations in independent orbits around Sun. It will swing past eight different asteroids, one in main Asteroid Belt and seven in Trojan swarms.

NASA informed that craft will map craters and identify key minerals on asteroid’s surface and take or detailed observations of rocky object. Lucy will also be hunting for asteroids that may have rings or even ir own moons.

45-foot-long craft will have a set of massive solar panels and four instruments to help it explore primordial object. Moreover, Lucy will also have a set of cameras onboard to help guide it through field of asteroid. 

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