NASA's Lucy mission snaps first views of Jupiter Trojan asteroids

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, April 15, 2023
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LOS ANGELES, April 14 (Xinhua) -- NASA's Lucy mission has captured its first views of four of its Trojan asteroid targets, from 530 million kilometers away, according to NASA.

From March 25 to 27, Lucy used its highest resolution imager, L'LORRI, to capture the first views of four Jupiter Trojan asteroids, NASA said on Thursday.

These images are the first in a series of planned observations designed to measure how the Trojan asteroids reflect light at higher angles than is observable from Earth, said NASA.

Lucy will fly by these asteroids in 2027 and 2028 as the spacecraft travels through a swarm of small asteroids that lead Jupiter in its orbit around the sun.

Launched on Oct. 16, 2021, NASA's Lucy mission is the first spacecraft launched to explore the Trojan asteroids, a population of primitive asteroids orbiting in tandem with Jupiter. Enditem

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