NASA launches Lucy Mission to study the Jupiter Trojan asteroids

The US space agency NASA has launched a first-of-its-kind mission called ‘Lucy Mission‘ to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

“With Lucy, we’re going to eight never-before-seen asteroids in 12 years with a single spacecraft,” said Tom Statler, Lucy project scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This is a fantastic opportunity for discovery as we probe into our solar system’s distant past.”

The Lucy mission will mark NASA’s first single spacecraft mission in history to explore so many different asteroids. The Lucy probe was launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on October 16, 2021.

Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids are two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of the primordial material that formed the solar system’s outer planets.