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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched an exceptional mission in order to study a swarm of space rocks that, according to scientists, could explain and give knowledge of the formation of the solar system. The task on these celestial bodies, fossils of other planets, will last 12 years.
It is a one-of-a-kind space mission. The NASA spacecraft, nicknamed ‘Lucy’ and aboard the Atlas 5 rocket, will study for 12 years Trojan asteroids trapped by Jupiter, that is, geological fossils, which could give information about the planetary origins.
It is about 10,000 rocky objects – some 6,000 called Greeks and another 4,000 nicknamed Trojans – that orbit the Sun in two swarms: one “in front of” the gaseous planet and the other “behind” it.
Scientists believe that they are remnants of primordial material that formed the outer planets of the solar system, so they hope that the close-up of ‘Lucy’ explains how the planets formed about 4.5 billion years ago and what shaped their current configuration.
NASA notes that such rocks are rich in carbon compounds and may even provide new insights into the origin of organic materials and life on Earth.
“Trojan asteroids are remnants from the early days of our solar system, indeed they are fossils from planet formation,” said mission principal investigator Harold Levison of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
Experts believe that the largest Trojan asteroids known to date, named for warriors in Greek mythology, would measure up to 225 kilometers in diameter.
A mission in space that will last 12 years
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported that the spacecraft, which departed from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:34 in the morning and as scheduled, will begin its task in 2025. NASA anticipates then for this investigation to be completed within 12 years.
No other scientific mission had been designed in history to visit so many different and orbiting objects, according to the organization.
‘Lucy’ will also make space flight history. The organization responsible for the civil space program explains that it will follow a route that rotates back to Earth three times to receive gravitational assistance and will be the first spacecraft to return to the vicinity of this planet from the outer solar system.
The probe will use rocket propellants to maneuver in space and two rounded solar panels, each the width of a school bus, to recharge the batteries that will power the instruments contained in the central body.
When ‘Lucy’ completes its mission, in 2033, the spacecraft will continue to travel between Trojan asteroids and Earth’s orbit for at least several hundred thousand more years. And, if all goes well, the space agency says, the rocket could last for millions of years.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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