From Ryugu to Bennu, asteroid exploration has been all the rage among astronomers lately. And now, we’re one step closer to exploring some of the most mysterious asteroids in the solar system.
On October 30, NASA announced that they’ve been given the green light to start building Lucy, a spacecraft that will probe Jupiter’s trojan asteroids and is set to launch in October of 2021. On top of giving the go-ahead for construction, NASA has also solidified the mission’s budget, schedule and its suite of high-powered instruments. The much-anticipated project will study two populations of asteroids caught by Jupiter’s gravity, about which little is known.