NASA targets Jupiter's mysterious 'trojans' and giant metal asteroid 16 Psyche in double missions that could unlock the secrets of the early universe

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NASA has unveiled two radical missions that could shed new light on the birth of the solar system. 

The missions, known as Lucy and Psyche have the potential to open new windows on one of the earliest eras in the history of our solar system – a time less than 10 million years after the birth of our sun. 

They were chosen from five finalists and will proceed to mission formulation, with the goal of launching in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

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The missions, known as Lucy and Psyche, were chosen from five finalists and will proceed to mission formulation, with the goal of launching in 2021 and 2023, respectively. Lucy (left) will visit a target-rich environment of Jupiter's mysterious Trojan asteroids, while Psyche (right)will study a unique metal asteroid that's never been visited before.

'Lucy will visit a target-rich environment of Jupiter's mysterious Trojan asteroids, while Psyche will study a unique metal asteroid that's never been visited before,' said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 

'This is what Discovery Program missions are all about – boldly going to places we've never been to enable groundbreaking science.'

Lucy, a robotic spacecraft, is scheduled to launch in October 2021. 

It's slated to arrive at its first destination, a main belt asteroid, in 2025. 

From 2027 to 2033, Lucy will explore six Jupiter Trojan asteroids. 

These asteroids are trapped by Jupiter's gravity in two swarms that share the planet's orbit, one leading and one trailing Jupiter in its 12-year circuit around the sun. 

The Trojans are thought to be relics of a much earlier era in the history of the solar system, and may have formed far beyond Jupiter's current orbit.

'This is a unique opportunity,' said Harold F. Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. 

'Because the Trojans are remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, they hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. 

'Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins.'

Lucy will build on the success of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, using newer versions of the RALPH and LORRI science instruments that helped enable the mission's achievements. 

Several members of the Lucy mission team also are veterans of the New Horizons mission. 

Lucy also will build on the success of the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu, with the OTES instrument and several members of the OSIRIS-REx team.

MISSION TO A METAL ASTEROID 

The Psyche mission will explore one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt – a giant metal asteroid, known as 16 Psyche, about three times farther away from the sun than is the Earth. 

This asteroid measures about 130 miles (210 kilometers) in diameter and, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, is thought to be comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel, similar to Earth's core. 

Scientists wonder whether Psyche could be an exposed core of an early planet that could have been as large as Mars, but which lost its rocky outer layers due to a number of violent collisions billions of years ago.

This asteroid measures about 130 miles (210 kilometers) in diameter and, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, is thought to be comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel, similar to Earth's core.

The mission will help scientists understand how planets and other bodies separated into their layers – including cores, mantles and crusts – early in their histories.

'This is an opportunity to explore a new type of world – not one of rock or ice, but of metal,' said Psyche Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University in Tempe. 

The mission will help scientists understand how planets and other bodies separated into their layers – including cores, mantles and crusts – early in their histories.

'16 Psyche is the only known object of its kind in the solar system, and this is the only way humans will ever visit a core. 

'We learn about inner space by visiting outer space.'

Psyche, also a robotic mission, is targeted to launch in October of 2023, arriving at the asteroid in 2030, following an Earth gravity assist spacecraft maneuver in 2024 and a Mars flyby in 2025.

 

In addition to selecting the Lucy and Psyche missions for formulation, the agency will extend funding for the Near Earth Object Camera (NEOCam) project for an additional year. 

The NEOCam space telescope is designed to survey regions of space closest to Earth's orbit, where potentially hazardous asteroids may be found.

'These are true missions of discovery that integrate into NASA's larger strategy of investigating how the solar system formed and evolved,' said NASA's Planetary Science Director Jim Green. 

The Lucy mission would visit the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, an understanding of which could help us understand the history of our solar system. The asteroids of the inner Solar System and Jupiter are shown on a diagram

'We've explored terrestrial planets, gas giants, and a range of other bodies orbiting the sun. 

'Lucy will observe primitive remnants from farther out in the solar system, while Psyche will directly observe the interior of a planetary body. 

'These additional pieces of the puzzle will help us understand how the sun and its family of planets formed, changed over time, and became places where life could develop and be sustained – and what the future may hold.'

Discovery Program class missions like these are relatively low-cost, their development capped at about $450 million.

The Discovery Program started in 1992 and is focused on answering questions about our solar system through low-cost missions.

Out of five mission concepts chosen in 2015, three targeted at asteroids and two at Venus, two were chosen to launch no later than 2021.

Psyche is the third short-listed mission, looking at the origin of planetary cores by studying the metallic asteroid Psyche. This asteroid appears to have survived a violent collision with another object. Artist's impression of the Psyche mission, pictured

'Nasa's Discovery Program gives scientists the opportunity to dig deep into their imaginations and find innovative ways to unlock the mysteries of the solar system,' the program website says.

In 2015, Nasa announced it had narrowed down five missions as part of the Discovery selection process.  

These missions were awarded $3 million (£2.4 million) each – with which scientists worked for a year to complete detailed hardware design, cost analysis, and science planning.

Nasa is set to announce, tonight at 9PM GMT (4PM ET), which mission or missions have been selected for the next round of its 'Discovery' mission. The Discovery Program started in 1992 and is focussed on answering questions about our solar system through low-cost missions

At the time, Nasa said it expected to choose one or two missions for flight opportunities 'as early as 2020'.   

The five shortlisted missions include two targeted at Venus and three at asteroids.

The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI), a mission to study the chemical composition of Venus' atmosphere over a 63-minute descent.

The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI), a mission to study the chemical composition of Venus' atmosphere over a 63-minute descent. Artist's conception of DAVINCI probe descent stages

The Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy mission (VERITAS). This would provide a high-resolution, global topography and imaging of the surface of Venus – providing the first maps of deformation and the plant's surface

This would provide a better understanding of whether there are still active volcanoes on the surface of Venus, and how the surface interacts with the atmosphere.

The second mission short-listed is the Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy mission (VERITAS).

This would provide a high-resolution, global topography and imaging of the surface of Venus – providing the first maps of deformation and the plant's surface.

Psyche is the third short-listed mission, looking at the origin of planetary cores by studying the metallic asteroid Psyche. 

This asteroid appears to have survived a violent collision with another object, the consequence of which was that it stripped the outer, rocky layers of a protoplanet.

The Near Earth Object Camera (NeoCam) would help to discover 10 times more near-Earth objects than the total number discovered to date. 

Finally, the Lucy mission would visit the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, an understanding of which could help us understand the history of our solar system.

This artist concept illustrates the NEOCam space telescope, which could survey the regions of space closest to the Earth's orbit, where potentially hazardous asteroids are most likely to be found. NEOCam will use infrared light to characterize their physical properties

Members of the press have been invited to a teleconference which will be streamed live, and the public can ask questions on Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA.

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of Nasa's Science Mission Directorate in Washington will take part in the call along with Jim Green, director of Nasa's Planetary Science Division in Washington, in addition to the Principal investigator(s) of the selected mission(s), according to Nasa. 

The 12 previously-selected Discovery missions include MESSENGER at Mercury, the Dawn mission to the large asteroids Vesta and Ceres and the InSight Mars lander, scheduled to launch in May 2018.