Tag: Trojans
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NASA, ULA launch historic Lucy mission
NASA and ULA (United Launch Alliance) launched NASA’s next asteroid exploration mission — Lucy — from Florida early Saturday morning, kickstarting the spacecraft’s 12-year journey through the solar system. Liftoff of Atlas V and Lucy occurred at 5:34 AM EDT (09:34 UTC) on Saturday, October 16, from SLC-41 (Space Launch Complex 41) at Cape Canaveral…
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Lucy in final preparations for launch, Principal Investigator discusses mission’s trajectory
After being shipped to Florida in early August, NASA’s most daring asteroid exploration mission yet — Lucy — is now in final launch preparations as the opening of its interplanetary transfer window to Jupiter nears. With the launch date just two weeks away, the mission’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Hal Levison, spoke with NASASpaceflight about the…
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Lucy’s Principal Investigator discusses upcoming mission to Jupiter’s Trojans
Of the varying types of celestial objects humans have sent spacecraft to investigate, there remains a select group of asteroids, located in two separate locations in our solar system, that we have yet to visit — the Trojan asteroids. Trojan asteroids are located at Jupiter’s L4 and L5 Lagrange points, 60 degrees ahead of and…