(Image credit NASA Goddard/YouTube).
There are as many as tens of thousands of asteroids in the solar system. Many types of space rocks are found in the main asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars orbits. A new mission, Lucy, will launch soon to study the Trojans and other asteroids.
The Trojans don't look like the rocks in the asteroid Belt. These are all leftovers from the formation the solar system. The asteroid belt rocks are reflective, but the Trojans are non-reflective rocks. Trojans also orbit closer to the sun than Jupiter's orbit, which makes them different.
NASA's Lucy mission will launch on October 16, 2021 to study these rare space rocks. The mission will be powered using solar panels. It also has four instruments that can monitor the surface features, temperature, and albedo of the asteroids it visits. Lucy will visit eight asteroids, including one main belt rock (and seven Trojans). This countdown will tell you more about each target!
