The ULA (United Launch Alliance) is scheduled to launch NASA's Lucy Mission (also known as Discovery 13) this morning at 5:34am. Even though the launch window is 23 days long, the Atlas rocket is a very reliable one, so unless there is a problem with the weather, the lauch should take place this morning.
Launch of NASA's Lucy Mission to Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids
Mission Briefing
The mission will be to fly past seven asteroids in twelve years in both the leading and the trailing asteroid fields orbiting at the Jupiter-Sun L4 and L5 Lagrange points. On April 20, 2025, the first asteroid it will encounter will be a main-belt asteroid called 52246 Donaldjohanson (named after the paleoanthropologist who discovered hominin australopithecine known as "Lucy" in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia). The spacecraft will fly past four Trojan asteroids at L4 from August 2027 to November 2028, then it will fall back to the inner solar system for a gravity boost in December 2030 for its final encounter with an asteroid in the L5 Trojan asteroid field in March 2033. After this, it will fall back into the inner solar system. It is possible that another gravity boost may be performed if the mission is extended.
For more information:
Wikipedia [LINK]
MIssion Webpage [LINK]
NASA Mission Brief [LINK]
Lucy Plaque [LINK]
Videos about the mission are embedded below.
How NASA's Lucy Mission Will Visit More Asteroids Than Any Other Spacecraft
NASA Goddard: Designing Lucy’s Path to the Trojan Asteroids
NASA Goddard: Lucy Mission Overview: Journey to Explore the Trojan Asteroids
Astrum: The Most Unusual Mission Goal Yet? | NASA's Lucy Probe to Jupiter's Trojans
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Become a Patron!
Or, if you prefer Pay Pal, try PayPal.me/MaconMedia
Published at 4:52am on Saturday, October 16, 2021
Author: Bobby Coggins
Videos about the mission are embedded below.
How NASA's Lucy Mission Will Visit More Asteroids Than Any Other Spacecraft
NASA Goddard: Designing Lucy’s Path to the Trojan Asteroids
NASA Goddard: Lucy Mission Overview: Journey to Explore the Trojan Asteroids
Astrum: The Most Unusual Mission Goal Yet? | NASA's Lucy Probe to Jupiter's Trojans
If you receive value from what Macon Media provides to the community, please consider becoming a supporter and contribute at least a dollar a month. Those who support Macon Media with at least a dollar a month receive early access to video of some events and meetings before they are made public on the website. Videos and news involving public safety are not subject to early access.
Or, if you prefer Pay Pal, try PayPal.me/MaconMedia
Published at 4:52am on Saturday, October 16, 2021
Author: Bobby Coggins
No comments:
Post a Comment
I appreciate your interest in commenting on what I have written and/or linked to, here are the ground rules and commenting philosophy at Thunder Pig.
Spam links will not be tolerated. If you have a product or service you wish to advertise, please use the contact info on the upper left sidebar at a buffer email address. Then, we shall discuss advertising rates.
Flooding the comments is not permitted. If you post more than three comments in a row in a thread, your comments will be deleted. Give me, and others, time to respond or comment on your comments.
Vulgar or profane comments will be deleted. Respectful disagreement and debate is encouraged, and links to cite your references are welcome.
I may highlight your comment on the front page, and I read the comments I get, and try to respond to them, but sometimes forget. (My memory buffer is limited).
Comments for posts will be closed in 14 days, when they go into moderation. I may read them, but only in very special circumstances will I approve them. Those circumstances are known only to God, and occasionally, me.