The first NASA probe on the way to Jupiter’s asteroids

Cape Canaveral. Through NASA probe “Lucy”, a spacecraft went to Jupiter’s asteroids for the first time. With the help of the “Atlas V” rocket, “Lucy” took off from the Cape Canaveral spacecraft in the US state of Florida on Saturday, according to the US space agency NASA. Shortly afterwards, NASA tweeted: “Lucy in the sky!” The mission is scheduled to run for twelve years, and “Lucy” is expected to cover a total of 6.5 billion kilometers.

“Fossils of Planetary Formation”

More than 14 meters long, powered by rechargeable fuels and batteries powered by solar cells, will fly near seven known as the Jupiter Trojans: Patroclus and Menodius – named after the heroes of Homer’s ancient legend “Iliad”.

Jupiter Trojans are meteorites orbiting the sun, in the same orbit as Jupiter – a swarm runs in front of it, one following it. They are considered “fossils of the formation of planets”, which is why NASA hopes that this project will provide new insights into the formation of planets and our solar system.

Knowledge of the formation of planets

In addition, “Lucy” was flying near an asteroid known as the main belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and the first study in the history of space travel – to get support from its gravitational pull to get its plane back three times closer to Earth. The first asteroid project is scheduled for 2025, while the others are scheduled for between 2027 and 2033.

The name of the trial is taken from the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. It is said to have been taken from a cassette recorder in 1974 when researchers discovered parts of a pre-human woman’s skeleton in the Ethiopian Affair Triangle. This discovery proved for the first time that the forerunners of today’s humans could walk upright about three million years ago. The fossil – now researched by NASA – has earned the nickname “Lucy”. According to NASA, the reason is simple: “Just as the” Lucy “fossil provided unique insights into human development, the” Lucy “mission promises to revolutionize our knowledge of the planets and the formation of the solar system.