NASA to launch first space probe on 12-year mission to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids
Zee News
NASA is set on Saturday to launch a first-of-its kind mission, dubbed Lucy, to study Jupiter`s Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system`s outer planets.
NASA is set on Saturday to launch a first-of-its kind mission, dubbed Lucy, to study Jupiter`s Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system`s outer planets.
The space probe, packed inside a special cargo capsule, is due for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:34 a.m. EDT (0934 GMT), carried aloft by an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (UAL), a joint venture of Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp.
If all goes according to plan, Lucy will be hurled into space on a 12-year expedition to study a record number of asteroids. It will be the first to explore the Trojans, thousands of rocky objects orbiting the sun in two swarms - one ahead of the path of giant gas planet Jupiter and one behind it.
