5 Cool Things to Know about NASA's Lucy Mission to the Trojan Asteroids

Matthew Walsh 

Core Chemistry

Mr. Ippolito

10/18/21

Grossman, Lisa. “5 Cool Things to Know about NASA's Lucy Mission to the Trojan Asteroids.” Science News, Southwest Research Institute, 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nasa-lucy-first-mission-trojan-asteroids-launch-space. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nasa-lucy-first-mission-trojan-asteroids-launch-space

In the article “5 cool things to know about NASA’s Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids” the author, Lisa Grossman, explains in detail “Lucy’s” mission. Lucy is the name of the FIRST spacecraft to travel to the Trojan Asteroids which follow along in the Gas Giant, Jupiter’s orbit.                          Summary

            According to the article, What Lucy finds there could provide a fresh peek into the history of the solar system. To go more in depth, Adriana Ocampo, a planetary scientist at NASA Headquarters “Lucy will profoundly change our understanding of planetary evolution in our solar system,” This is possibly NASA’s biggest spacecraft without human(s) on board because according to NASA there is potential for it to completely change our understanding of the solar system, specifically the way the planets got to where they are now. The article then EXPLAINS the Trojan Asteroids and how they are a “time capsule” According to the article, this is because “The Trojans occupy spots known as Lagrangian points, where the gravity from the sun and from Jupiter effectively cancel each other out.” The result of this phenomenon is that they are bound to orbit for billions of years. Contrary to what would normally be believed, these Asteroids are actually noticeably different from one another. Some are red, some are gray which would suggest that they could have come from different places. 

Relevance

The main idea of Lucy is to guide astronomists to figuring out if and if so when the giant planets moved around and eventually settled to their current orbits. NASA has a positive belief that Lucy can help us unlock the key to more solar system history. We can figure out so much more if these asteroids hold important secrets. This is also important because it could possibly give us insight into what’s to come, not only looking at the past. This isn’t certain but can certainly happen. This has a direct effect on society.

I found the article to be very interesting because I am largely into our planets. Fortunately, besides Earth, Jupiter is possibly my favorite because of its size and its relevance. Along with this, it does a good job explaining fun facts and giving the basic information about Lucy. I liked how the article has a kid-ish feel to it and it gives imagery and fun facts.  However, these positives come with negatives. The author could have done a much better job explaining what could happen instead of just saying “this could change society”. I was left wondering what about these asteroids is so important and how it could change our perception of the solar system. Even considering these weaknesses, it is possible that there just isn’t much data about what the Trojan Asteroids could do for us. However, the article doesn’t even include ONE piece of data which could be found. If there was at least some data to back up the claim I think it would greatly benefit an already solid article. 

            At approximately 5:34 AM on Saturday, October 16th, Lucy launched and set out on its journey.