The fairing that surrounds the Lucy spacecraft, as seen from the tip of the ULA Atlas V rocket on October 14, 2021, just two days before its first launch.
CAPE CANAVERAL (Fla.) NASA's newest planetary mission, an asteroid-observing probe called Lucy, will fly by a record number of asteroids. You can live stream the action online.
After being released from their hangar on Thursday, Oct. 14, Lucy and the rocket have rolled out onto the pad. The pair, which is 188 feet tall (57.3 meters), are aiming for an early morning liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. They will be atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The weather forecast for today suggests that there is only a 10% chance of poor conditions affecting liftoff.
NASA TV allows you to live-stream the launch here and on Space.com. Liftoff will take place at 5:34 AM EDT (9:34 GMT). NASA's webcast begins at 5 a.m. ET (0900 GMT).
Related: NASA's Lucy spacecraft will visit 8 asteroids
The 45th Space Delta at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station has predicted that liftoff conditions will be favorable for 90% of the time. Cumulus clouds are the only concern. If Lucy is unable to launch on Saturday, there are alternative launch options on Sunday and Monday.
Space.com's chief operating officer, John Elbon stated that everything is moving towards a Saturday morning launch. "I cannot express how grateful we are to NASA for the opportunity to launch spacecraft to explore the entire solar system," Elbon, chief operating officer of ULA said to Space.com.
Related: NASA's Lucy Asteroid Mission will Explore the Mysteries of Early Solar System
Lucy's trip to the Trojans
NASA's next spacecraft for observing asteroid impacts is the Lucy mission. It cost $981 million. Lucy, equipped with a range of scientific instruments and cameras, will attempt to solve one of the most mysterious mysteries of the solar system: How did these giant planets form.
Current theories suggest that Saturn and Jupiter formed first, being closer to the sun than today. The rest of the planets were then formed from leftovers and settled in the outer solar systems. It is not clear how bits of rock or ice became the huge planets that we see today, like Uranus or Neptune.
Lucy is the one who makes Lucy's mission possible: Lucy will explore two distinct asteroids packs, each of which orbits in the same direction as Jupiter. These planetary bodies are known as Trojan asteroids and can be a few kilometers across or hundreds of kilometers wide.
Scientists are interested in studying the Trojans as cosmic fossils. They could be time capsules that were created during the formation of our solar system. The rubble could reveal a lot about the formation of planets.
Over the course of its 12-year mission, Lucy will encounter seven Trojan asteroids in five different encounters. It will also observe one main belt asteroid before reaching the Trojans 2025. Because of their unique properties and orbits, the targets were selected. Lucy is able to visit more asteroids than any other mission.
Lucy will be able analyze every asteroid's geophysical properties and composition, which could aid scientists in unlocking the secrets of planetary evolutionary.
During a prelaunch science briefing, Lucy deputy principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute, Cathy Olkin stated that "one task is to map craters across each asteroid’s the surface." "We will be looking for craters less than 70 yards [64 m] in size, as well as craters larger than four miles [6 km] in length.
Olkin stated that the number and size of craters found on an asteroid’s surface can give us clues about its origin and evolution.
Space travel
Lucy will be riding to orbit on a ULA Atlas V rocket. It will fly in its simplest configuration, the 401. The most basic Atlas V is a 4 meter payload fairing with a Centaur upperstage and no solid rocket boosters. This will be the 146th Atlas V mission and the 89th NASA flight.
This will be the 100th launch from ULA’s Cape launch facilities. SLC-41 has been host to many different Atlas V missions, all of which have been very successful. Lucy continues to build on the legacy from the many previous missions, such as the OSIRIS asteroid explorer, InSight Mars Lander, and even New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto.
Lucy's launch marks another notch in ULA's final countdown for its Atlas V rocket. ULA will be retiring it in favor of the still in development Vulcan rocket. ULA has 29 Atlas V rockets remaining in its stable of launchers. All of them have been assigned missions.
Vulcan Centaur, the future workhorse for ULA will launch in 2022.
