The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent the Lucy research probe into space, the NASA press service reported on Saturday.
The probe, which will study the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter, was launched using the Atlas V launch vehicle of the United Launch Alliance. The launch was successful.
It is assumed that the probe will reach the asteroids of Jupiter in April 2025, and will finish work in March 2033. NASA hopes that this comic mission will help find answers to many questions about the formation of the Solar System.
In November, NASA will test the protection of the Earth from potentially dangerous asteroids for the first time. The agency will launch a Falcon 9 rocket with a special probe to one of the space bodies, which will have to collide with the object and change its orbit.
Earlier it was reported that NASA missed the asteroid 2021 SG, which was approaching the Earth, the size of which is comparable to the Statue of Liberty. The celestial body on September 16 approached the Earth by 246 thousand. km, which is about half the distance to the moon. At the same time, astronomers learned about the asteroid’s approach only the next day.