Successful takeoff.

Lucy, NASA's first mission to the Trojan asteroids, located in the orbit of Jupiter, took off this Saturday morning from Florida, embarking on a 12-year journey that should provide a better understanding of the formation of our solar system.

The Atlas V rocket responsible for propelling the spacecraft took off at 5:34 am from Cape Canaveral.

The craft will be the first solar-powered to venture this far from the Sun, and will observe more asteroids than any other spacecraft before it - eight in all.

Each of these asteroids must "deliver a part of the history of our solar system, of our history," Thomas Zurbuchen, director of the science division of the US space agency, told a press conference.

Around 2025, the spacecraft will first fly over an asteroid in the main asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter.

Then he will visit seven Trojan asteroids, including the last two in 2033. The largest of them is about 95 km in diameter.

Trojan asteroids are special

The spacecraft will approach the selected objects at a distance of only 400 to 950 kilometers, depending on their size, and at a speed of approximately 24,000 km / h. The Trojan asteroids, of which about 7,000 are known, evolve around the Sun in two groups, one preceding Jupiter, the other following it. “One of the surprising things about Trojan asteroids is that they are very different from each other, especially their color: some are gray, some are red,” explained Hal Levison, principal investigator for this. mission. We believe their color indicates where they came from. "

As the #LucyMission carries her own time capsule to the Trojan asteroids over the next 12 years, we encourage you to put together a time capsule of your own with messages to yourself & tokens from the current era.

Share it w / the hashtag #LucyTimeCapsule: https://t.co/9m91f6Diyk pic.twitter.com/IojRFqiedg

- NASA (@NASA) October 16, 2021

Researchers want to study their geology, composition, and precise density, mass and volume.

Lucy will also conduct three overflights of Earth to take advantage of its gravitational assistance, becoming the first spacecraft to return to the planet's vicinity from the far reaches of the Solar System.

The evolution of the solar system in play

The mission was named Lucy in reference to the Australopithecus fossil discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, which helped shed light on the evolution of humanity - NASA here wishing to shed light on the evolution of the solar system.

The researchers who found this skeleton were listening to the Beatles song "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" at the time.

“We do take a diamond on board,” smiled Phil Christensen, responsible for the scientific instrument called L'TES, which contains the gemstone.

This instrument will measure infrared light, which will determine the surface temperature of the asteroids.

“By comparing these night and day measurements, we can determine if the surface is made of boulders, or fine dust and sand,” he explained.

Indeed, the rock cools less quickly than the sand at night.

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