NASA selects launch site for asteroid mission

NASA (www.nasa.gov) has selected United Launch Services (ULS) of Centennial, Colorado, to provide launch services for its first-ever mission to explore Trojan asteroids.

The Lucy mission is currently scheduled for launch in October 2021 on an Atlas V 401 rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

With boosts from Earth’s gravity, the spacecraft will embark on a 12-year journey to study primitive asteroids orbiting the Sun in tandem with Jupiter.

The total cost for NASA of the Lucy mission is about $148.3 million.