A new NASA mission that will traverse the solar system in pursuit of multiple primitive asteroids will be built and run by Colorado scientists. The mission, which is called "Lucy" after the prehistoric human fossil, will study a group of asteroids known as Trojans. Trojan asteroids orbit in tandem with Jupiter, and are thought to be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets.
The scientific mission will be led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, and the spacecraft will be built by Lockheed Martin in Littleton.
The mission's principal investigator, Hal Levison of SwRI, spoke with Colorado Matters' host Andrea Dukakis.
