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Lucy - Blog Posts
The definition of “Maybe in another universe”
Ough I haven't posted art in a long time...
Go my scarab
They’re incapable of sleeping normally I reckon
Yesterday I finally started reading "Lockwood and Co". I’m glad I had the time. This book keeps me sane at this point in my life ಥ‿ಥ
The Reaper, The Rabbit, and Her Conscience. Haha, I try to make up actual stories sometimes but I can't write, Hahaha! Anyways, meet Daniel/Dani (The Reaper), Lucy/Bunny (The Rabbit), and Luther/Ghost (Her Conscience). All are my own OCs!
How the Sun Affects Asteroids in Our Neighborhood
It’s no secret the Sun affects us here on Earth in countless ways, from causing sunburns to helping our houseplants thrive. The Sun affects other objects in space, too, like asteroids! It can keep them in place. It can move them. And it can even shape them.
Asteroids embody the story of our solar system’s beginning. Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, which orbit the Sun on the same path as the gas giant, are no exception. The Trojans are thought to be left over from the objects that eventually formed our planets, and studying them might offer clues about how the solar system came to be.
Over the next 12 years, NASA’s Lucy mission will visit eight asteroids—including seven Trojans— to help answer big questions about planet formation and the origins of our solar system. It will take the spacecraft about 3.5 years to reach its first destination.
How does the Sun affect what Lucy might find?
Place in Space
Credits: Astronomical Institute of CAS/Petr Scheirich
The Sun makes up 99.8% of the solar system’s mass and exerts a strong gravitational force as a result. In the case of the Trojan asteroids that Lucy will visit, their very location in space is dictated in part by the Sun’s gravity. They are clustered at two Lagrange points. These are locations where the gravitational forces of two massive objects—in this case the Sun and Jupiter—are balanced in such a way that smaller objects (like asteroids or satellites) stay put relative to the larger bodies. The Trojans lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit by 60° at Lagrange points L4 and L5.
Pushing Asteroids Around (with Light!)
The Sun can move and spin asteroids with light! Like many objects in space, asteroids rotate. At any given moment, the Sun-facing side of an asteroid absorbs sunlight while the dark side sheds energy as heat. When the heat escapes, it creates an infinitesimal amount of thrust, pushing the asteroid ever so slightly and altering its rotational rate. The Trojans are farther from the Sun than other asteroids we’ve studied before, and it remains to be seen how sunlight affects their movement.
Cracking the Surface (Also with Light!)
The Sun can break asteroids, too. Rocks expand as they warm and contract when they cool. This repeated fluctuation can cause them to crack. The phenomenon is more intense for objects without atmospheres, such as asteroids, where temperatures vary wildly. Therefore, even though the Trojans are farther from the Sun than rocks on Earth, they’ll likely show more signs of thermal fracturing.
Solar Wind-Swept
Like everything in our solar system, asteroids are battered by the solar wind, a steady stream of particles, magnetic fields, and radiation that flows from the Sun. For the most part, Earth’s magnetic field protects us from this bombardment. Without magnetic fields or atmospheres of their own, asteroids receive the brunt of the solar wind. When incoming particles strike an asteroid, they can kick some material off into space, changing the fundamental chemistry of what’s left behind.
Follow along with Lucy’s journey with NASA Solar System on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and be sure to tune in for the launch at 5 a.m. EDT (09:00 UTC) on Saturday, Oct. 16 at nasa.gov/live.
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Here’s What You Need to Know About Near-Earth Objects
Our solar system is littered with asteroids and comets, and sometimes they get a little close to Earth. But no need to worry! This happens all the time. When an asteroid or comet could come close to our planet, it’s known as a near-Earth object – aka NEO.
But how close is “close”?
A near-Earth object is defined as an object that could pass by our Earth within 30 million miles. We begin to keep close watch on objects that could pass within 5 million miles of our planet.
To put that into perspective, our Moon is only 238,900 miles away.
However unlikely an impact is, we want to know about all near-Earth objects. Our Planetary Defense Coordination Office maintains watch for asteroids and comets coming close to Earth. Along with our partners, we discover, catalog and characterize these bodies.
But what if one of these objects posed a threat?
We want to be prepared. That is why we are working on several deflection techniques and technologies to help protect our planet.
So next time that you hear of an asteroid passing “close” to Earth, know that it’s just one of many that we are tracking.
Here are 10 more things you should know about Planetary Defense.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Two New Missions to Explore the Early Solar System
We’ve got big science news…!
We’ve just added two more science missions to our lineup! The two selected missions have the potential to open new windows on one of the earliest eras in the history of our solar system – a time less than 10 millions years after the birth of our sun.
The missions, known as Lucy and Psyche, were chosen from five finalists and will proceed to mission formulation.
Let’s take a dive into each mission…
Lucy
Lucy, a robotic spacecraft, will visit a target-rich environment of Jupiter’s mysterious Trojan asteroids. Scheduled to launch in October 2021, the spacecraft is slated to arrive at its first destination, a main asteroid belt, in 2025.
Then, from 2027 to 2033, Lucy will explore six Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are trapped by Jupiter’s gravity in two swarms that share the planet’s orbit, one leading and one trailing Jupiter in its 12-year circuit around the sun. The Trojans are thought to be relics of a much earlier era in the history of the solar system, and may have formed far beyond Jupiter’s current orbit.
Studying these Trojan asteroids will give us valuable clues to deciphering the history of the early solar system.
Psyche
The Psyche mission will explore one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt – a giant metal asteroid, known as 16 Psyche, about three times farther away from the sun than is the Earth. The asteroid measures about 130 miles in diameter and, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, it is thought to be comprised of mostly metallic iron and nickel, similar to Earth’s core.
Scientists wonder whether psyche could be an exposed core of an early planet that could have been as large as Mars, but which lost its rocky outer layers due to a number of violent collisions billions of years ago.
The mission will help scientists understand how planets and other bodies separated into their layers early in their histories. The Psyche robotic mission is targeted to launch in October of 2023, arriving at the asteroid in 2030, following an Earth gravity assist spacecraft maneuver in 2024 and a Mars flyby in 2025.
Get even more information about these two new science missions HERE.
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