Asteroid exploration missions announced
12 Jan 2017 by Evoluted New Media
NASA has announced two new missions to better understand the early stages of our Solar System.
NASA has announced two new missions to better understand the early stages of our Solar System.
Two spacecraft named Lucy and Psyche will explore the Trojan - a collection of primitive asteroids near Jupiter and 16 Pysche, an unusual asteroid, thought to be metallic.
Dr Harold F. Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said: “This is a unique opportunity. Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionise the understanding of our origins.”
The Trojans are trapped by Jovian gravity and split in two groups, one leading and one following the gas giant’s orbit around the Sun. They are believed to have been captured during planetary migration. Lucy, scheduled to launch in 2021, is expected to explore six Trojans between 2027 and 2033. She will use remote-sensing instrumentation to study their geology, surface composition and physical properties. Lucy will also calculate the mass and densities.
Dr Levison said: “One of the most puzzling characteristics of the Trojans is that they are very different from one another. This diversity was caused by the evolution of the outer planets and, as such, can be used to detangle their history.”
The Pysche mission will investigate 16 Pysche, unlike most asteroids which have rocky or icy bodies, is thought to be compromised mainly of iron and nickle. It is due to launch in 2023, arriving at the asteroid seven years later, with the help of an Earth gravity-assisted manoeuvre in 2024. The asteroid measures about 130 km in diameter and is thought to be the exposed core of a planet once the size of Mars, that has since lost its outer layers due to violent collisions. In addition to the announcement of these two missions, whittled down from 27 submissions received in 2014, the space agency will extend funding for the Near Object Camera (NEOCam) project for a further year. NEOCam surveys regions of space closest to Earth’s orbit, looking for potentially hazardous asteroids.
Jim Green, NASA’s Planetary Science Director, said: “Lucy will observe primitive remnants from farther out in the solar system, while Psyche will directly observe the interior of a planetary body. These additional pieces of the puzzle will help us understand how the sun and its family of planets formed, changed over time, and became places where life could develop and be sustained – and what the future may hold.”
