Lucy is the first solar-powered sonar to travel this far from the Sun. During its voyage, the ship will visit eight asteroids, more than any of its predecessors.
The United States space administration Nasa will send its first unmanned ship toward Jupiter’s orbit on Saturday.
A probe named Lucy will leave for its 12-year journey from Florida at the Cape Canaveral space base at about 12.34 Finnish time. HS shows the trigger straight.
The data collected by Lucy seeks to better understand the factors that contributed to the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
Vessel visits eight asteroids during its journey, that is, more than any of its predecessors.
The journey focuses on so-called Trojan asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter, which are in orbit in two groups in front of and behind Jupiter. Lucy’s journey goes to both groups.
Trojan asteroids of more than 7,000 pieces are believed to be composed of primitive material, of which the outermost planets are also composed. Exploring them also provides information on the history of the entire solar system.
“Even though they are in space in a small area, they are physically very different. For example, they are different colors, some are gray, some are red, ”says a researcher at Nassa Hal Levison said in late September.
The sonar is exploring asteroids at its nearest distance of about 400 kilometers. With its technology, it is able to study, for example, the composition, mass and density of a celestial body.
Lucy is the first solar-powered sonar to travel this far from the Sun. The giant planet Jupiter is the Fifth Planet since the Sun.
.
/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data115104119-e97fa5.jpg?w=350&resize=350,250&ssl=1)
