Democracy Dies in Darkness

NASA’s Lucy in the sky with asteroids. Craft to study 8 unique bodies near Jupiter

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October 9, 2021 at 7:30 a.m. EDT
Jupiter's southern hemisphere. NASA is poised to send its first spacecraft to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids to glean new insights into the solar system's formation 4.5 billion years ago, the space agency said. (NASA/AFP/Getty Images)

by Erin Blakemore

Over 400 million miles away, two groups of chunky asteroids spin around Jupiter, trapped by the planet’s orbit.

They’re known as Trojan asteroids. This month, a new probe will begin a 12-year mission to study their secrets.

The spacecraft, called Lucy, has an ambitious aim. It will be the first mission to study the Trojan asteroids, and the most complex in terms of number of destinations ever launched.