Weather conditions will be 90% favorable on the morning of October 16, when the Lucy mission is set to leave Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:34 a.m. ET. If it doesn't launch at that time, the window for liftoff remains open for 75 minutes.
Lucy is the first spacecraft designed to visit and observe these asteroids, which are remnants from the early days of our solar system. The mission will help researchers effectively peer back in time to learn how the solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago. Lucy's 12-year mission could also help scientists learn how our planets ended up in their current spots.
The spacecraft is set to fly by an asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and then it will explore seven of the Trojans. Over the course of its mission, Lucy will end up swinging back to Earth's orbit three separate times for gravity assists that can slingshot it on the right path. That will make Lucy the first spacecraft to travel to Jupiter and return to Earth.
Both the fossil and the mission are a nod to the Beatles tune"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," which is why the logo for the Lucy mission includes a diamond.Lucy will specifically visit these asteroids, all named for heroes you might recognize from Homer's"The Iliad": Eurybates, Queta, Polymele, Leucus, Orus, Patroclus and Menoetius.
"Lucy will be NASA's first mission to travel this far away from the sun without nuclear power," said Joan Salute, associate director for flight programs at NASA's Planetary Science Division."In order to generate enough energy, Lucy has two very large circular solar arrays that open up like Chinese fans. These open up autonomously and simultaneously, and it happens about one hour after launch.
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