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NASA's Lucy probe is set to fly on April 20, 2025

NASA's Lucy probe is scheduled to make a significant flyby of the asteroid Donaldjohanson on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. Here are some detailed aspects of this mission: Mission Objectives: The Lucy mission aims to study the Trojan asteroids, which are believed to be remnants from the early solar system. By examining these asteroids, scientists hope to gain insights into the formation and evolution of the solar system. Asteroid Donaldjohanson: Named after paleontologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the famous Australopithecus fossil "Lucy," this asteroid orbits the Sun in a region known as the L4 Trojan camp, situated ahead of Jupiter in its orbit. It is one of the many Trojan asteroids that are thought to contain primitive materials. Flyby Details: During the flyby, Lucy will use its suite of scientific instruments to gather data about Donaldjohanson's surface composition, geology, and morphology. The close encounter will allow for high-resolution im...
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Breezing through the space environment of Barnard's Star b

The closest exoplanet to us, if we include only single stars like the Sun, is the planet around Barnard's Star, Barnard's Star-b ("BSb"). (The planet Promixa Centauri-b is closer, but Proxima Cen is part of a triple-star system with Alpha and Beta Centauri, and understanding the evolutionary development of the planet is more complicated.) BSb orbits at a distance similar to that of Mercury around the Sun, but Barnard's Star is a cool M-dwarf star and so despite the planet being close to the star it probably resides near the snow line – the distance where stellar irradiation is weak enough to allow volatile elements to condense onto the planet's surface. This makes BSb an especially interesting planet and possibly a keystone for future progress understanding planet formation and atmospheric evolution.

from Astronomy News - Space News, Exploration News, Earth Science News, Earth Science http://bit.ly/2VI9WzH
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