NASA set to launch spacecraft to visit 8 asteroids. “Each one of those asteroids we’re visiting tells our story ... the story of us, the story of the solar system,” NASA’s chief of science says.
is up first, blasting off this weekend on a 12-year cruise to swarms of asteroids out near Jupiter — unexplored time capsules from the dawn of the solar system. And yes, there will be diamonds in the sky with Lucy, on one of its science instruments, as well as lyrics from other Beatles’ songs.Barely a month later, an impactor spacecraft named Dart will give chase to a double-asteroid closer to home.
“Each one of those asteroids we’re visiting tells our story ... the story of us, the story of the solar system,” said NASA’s chief of science missions, Thomas Zurbuchen. The asteroid-smacking Dart spacecraft — set to launch Nov. 24 — promises to be a dramatic exercise in planetary defense. If all goes well, the high-speed smashup will occur next fall just 7 million miles away, within full view of ground telescopes.
“That’s what makes the Trojans special. If these ideas of ours are right, they formed throughout the outer solar system and are now at one location where we can go and study them,” Levison said. The spacecraft will be so far from the sun — as much as 530 million miles — that massive solar panels are needed to provide enough power. Each of Lucy’s twin circular wings stretches 24 feet across, dwarfing the spacecraft tucked in the middle like the body of a moth.“Every one of those flybys needs to be near-perfection,” Zurbuchen said.
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