NASA’s Lucy mission went to visit an asteroid and got more than it bargained for

NASA’s Lucy mission visited the asteroid Trojan and discovered more than it was expecting. The mission, which launched in October 2021, discovered that the asteroid was much more complex than anticipated, harboring 7 different classes of Trojans and showing evidence of some of the oldest material in the solar system. In addition, Lucy also uncovered evidence of past geological processes which hadn’t been seen in other asteroids before. The mission team was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the asteroid and what it had to offer, as it gave scientists insight into our early solar system formation. The Lucy mission will continue to study the asteroid through its journey to Jupiter’s orbit, which it’s scheduled to reach in 2033.