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Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
« dnia: Luty 01, 2019, 21:03 »
ULA wins contract to launch NASA’s Lucy mission to visit unexplored asteroids
February 1, 2019 Stephen Clark [SFN]


File photo of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5-401 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral. Credit: United Launch Alliance

NASA has selected United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket to dispatch the Lucy spacecraft on a mission from Cape Canaveral in October 2021 to fly by seven unexplored asteroids, including six objects locked in orbits leading and trailing Jupiter, where scientists expect swarms of miniature worlds could hold clues about the formation of the solar system.

The space agency announced the contract award to ULA on Thursday, extending the company’s history of launching prominent interplanetary missions, a list that includes still-operating probes such as the InSight and Curiosity landers to Mars, the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, New Horizons in the Kuiper Belt, and the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission.

Built by Lockheed Martin, the Lucy spacecraft will lift off aboard an Atlas 5 rocket with a four-meter (13-foot) diameter payload shroud and no solid rocket boosters, a variant known as the “401” configuration. The launch will occur at ULA’s Complex 41 launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

“We could not be more pleased that NASA has selected ULA to launch this amazing planetary science mission,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and chief executive officer. “This mission has a once-in-a-lifetime planetary launch window, and Atlas 5’s world-leading schedule certainty, coupled with our reliability and performance provided the optimal vehicle for this mission.”

The launch window for the Lucy mission opens Oct. 16, 2021, and extends several weeks. If the launch is delayed beyond the 2021 launch window, a backup opportunity is available approximately one year later, according to Simone Marchi, Lucy’s deputy project scientist from the Southwest Research Institute.

“Our Atlas 5 rocket has launched 79 times achieving 100 percent mission success, and we look forward to working again with our mission partners to explore our universe,” Bruno said in a statement.

The launch contract is valued at $148.3 million, a figure that includes the launch service and other mission-related costs, according to NASA.

ULA said NASA selected the Atlas 5 rocket after a “competitive launch service task order evaluation” by the space agency’s Launch Services Program. ULA’s Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets are certified to launch NASA’s robotic interplanetary science missions, alongside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launcher. Both companies are expected to submit bids for each task order competition managed the Launch Services Program.

After launching aboard the Atlas 5 rocket, Lucy will a combination of on-board thrusters and three gravity assist flybys with Earth to spiral into an elongated orbit around the sun, first to encounter a main-belt asteroid between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in 2025, then to explore six objects farther out in the solar system five times farther from the sun than the Earth.

Lucy will be the first mission to visit a class of solar system objects known as the Trojan asteroids, which orbit in tandem with Jupiter, with groups ahead of and behind the giant planet in its path around the sun.



Artist’s concept of the Lucy spacecraft flying by Trojan asteroids. Credit: NASA/SWRI

Scientists believe the Trojan asteroids represent a diverse sample of the types of small planetary building blocks that populated the solar system after its formation 4.5 billion years ago.

“If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last 30 years, it’s the planets like Earth do not form, excuse the pun, in a vacuum,” said Hal Levison, Lucy’s principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder. “They form as a result of a complex interaction of various regions of the solar system handing material back and forth as the planets accreted. As a result, to understand where a planet like the Earth comes from, you really have to understand the system as a whole.”

That’s why NASA has launched, or is developing, nearly a dozen robotic missions to explore asteroids, comets and objects in the distant Kuiper Belt — all in the last 25 years. Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA’s science directorate, said the space agency is investing between $5 billion and $6 billion in missions to small bodies in the current decade.

“The reason why these (objects) are particularly interesting is because they are sculpted by the formation of the planetary system, and most of the material in it has remained roughly unchanged since the beginning of the solar system, and that’s why NASA has put so much effort into trying to understand these bodies,” Levison said.

“Lucy will launch in just about 1,000 days, which is a little intimidating to me,” Levison said. “We’re going to have a main-belt asteroid rehearsal in 2025, and five Trojan encounters going between 2027 and 2033, for a total of six objects because one of the objects we’re studying is going to be a binary, which is, I must admit, my favorite.”

Initially thought to be the remnant leftovers from the formation of Jupiter, the Trojan asteroids actually appear different from one another, with some appearing reddish in color, and others have a dark charcoal-like color.

Levison co-authored the Nice model, which suggests the solar system’s four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — all formed relatively close together, with a disk of dust and rocks extending farther from the sun.

“The Nice model predicts that this planetary system was unstable,” Levison said. “The orbits went basically nuts. Uranus and Neptune gravitationally scattered off one another and were thrown out into this disk of material by Jupiter and Saturn. The disk went kablooey because of the gravitational effects of the planets, and … most of the material was thrown out into interstellar space, but you have a small population right about Jupiter, which represents the Trojans.

“This is just a theory, but if this is all true, then the Trojan population represents objects that formed throughout that disk (in the early solar system), so it’s an opportunity for us to understand that disk by just going to the small region that we call the Trojans,” he said.

“In order to take advantage of this diversity, we need to be able to cover a lot of real estate, and study a lot of these objects,” Levison said.

After Lucy’s launch, the spacecraft will return to fly by Earth on Oct. 16, 2022, and Dec. 13, 2024, to use the planet’s gravity to slingshot farther from the sun.



During the course of its mission, Lucy will fly by six Jupiter Trojans. This time-lapsed animation shows the movements of the inner planets (Mercury, brown; Venus, white; Earth, blue; Mars, red), Jupiter (orange), and the two Trojan swarms (green) during the course of the Lucy mission. Credit: Astronomical Institute of CAS/Petr Scheirich

The probe will encounter its first extraterrestrial target on April 20, 2025, when it speeds by the 2.4-mile-wide (3.9-kilometer) asteroid Donaldjohanson, named for the paleoanthropologist who discovered the fossil of Lucy, a human ancestor whose partial skeleton was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.

“Lucy is named after the human ancestor fossil because these objects really represent the fossils of planet formation, so in honor of that, we named this asteroid Donald Johanson, the discoverer of Lucy,” Levison said.

Lucy will fly by four objects in one of the Trojan swarms over a 15-month period from August 2027 through November 2028, then return back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby on Dec. 26, 2030, to bend the spacecraft’s trajectory to aim for a binary pair of Trojan asteroids — named Patroclus and Menoetius — on March 2, 2033.

“This is a flyby mission,” Levison said. “We’re going to just about everything that we can do during a flyby. We’re going to look at surface geology, we’re going to get colors, we’re going to get compositions, we’re going to be able to measure the mass of these objects as we fly by using the Doppler shift, and we’re going to look for satellites and rings.”

Lucy’s four major science instruments — largely based on hardware flown on previous interplanetary missions — will be mounted to an articulating platform at the top of the spacecraft, which stands around 15 feet (5 meters) tall and has two fan-shaped UltraFlex solar array wings built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, formerly known as Orbital ATK. Lucy’s chemical propulsion system will be fueled by hydrazine for major in-space maneuvers.

NASA selected Lucy in 2017 from 28 proposals submitted by U.S. science teams as part of the Discovery line of cost-capped planetary probes, a program under which the agency’s Mars Pathfinder rover, the Messenger mission to orbit Mercury, the Dawn spacecraft that visited Vesta and Ceres in the asteroid belt, and the InSight lander currently on Mars were developed, built and launched.



The Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of the Patroclus-Menoetius binary pair in February 2018. Credit: SWRI

In addition to Lucy, NASA selected the Psyche mission to explore a unique asteroid made almost entirely of iron-nickel metal. Psyche will launch in August 2022 and reach its destination in January 2026.

The Lucy and Psyche missions costs to NASA are capped at $450 million each, excluding launch costs.

Here is a preliminary timeline of Lucy’s mission:

Launch: Oct. 16, 2021
Deep Space Maneuver 1: Nov. 15, 2021
Earth Flyby 1: Oct. 16, 2022
Deep Space Maneuver 2: Feb. 2, 2024
Earth Flyby 2: Dec. 13, 2024
Donaldjohanson Flyby: April 20, 2025
Deep Space Maneuver 3: April 3, 2027
Eurybates Flyby: Aug. 12, 2027
Polymele Flyby: Sept. 15, 2027
Deep Space Maneuver 4: Sept. 29, 2027
Leucus Flyby: April 28, 2028
Orus Flyby: Nov. 11, 2028
Earth Flyby 3: Dec. 26, 2030
Patroclus/Menoetius Flyby: March 2, 2033


Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/02/01/ula-wins-contract-to-launch-nasas-lucy-mission-to-visit-unexplored-asteroids/
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ULA wins competition to launch NASA mission
Jeff Foust February 1, 2019


An Atlas 5 401 lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Aug. 18, sending the TDRS-M communications satellite into orbit. Credit: United Launch Alliance

WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance won a NASA contract Jan. 31 to launch a planetary science mission in what the agency said was a competitive procurement.

NASA said it will use an Atlas 5 401 from ULA to launch its Lucy mission in October 2021 from Florida. The total launch cost, which includes the launch and “other mission related costs,” is $148.3 million, according to a NASA statement.
https://spacenews.com/ula-wins-competition-to-launch-nasa-mission/

SpaceX protests NASA launch contract award
by Jeff Foust — February 13, 2019, Updated 8:00 p.m. Eastern with NASA statement. [SpaceNews]


SpaceX argues that it can carry out the launch of NASA's Lucy planetary science missions at a lower cost than what NASA is paying ULA for an Atlas 5 launch. Credit: United Launch Alliance

WASHINGTON — SpaceX has filed a protest over the award of a launch contract to United Launch Alliance for a NASA planetary science mission, claiming it could carry out the mission for significantly less money.

The protest, filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Feb. 11, is regarding a NASA procurement formally known as RLSP-35. That contract is for the launch of the Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter, awarded by NASA to ULA Jan. 31 at a total cost to the agency of $148.3 million.

The GAO documents did not disclose additional information about the protest, other than the office has until May 22 to render a decision. NASA said that, as a result of the protest, it’s halted work on the ULA contract.

“NASA has issued a stop work order on the agency’s Lucy mission after a protest of the contract award was filed with the Government Accountability Office,” agency spokesperson Tracy Young said Feb. 13. “NASA is always cognizant of its mission schedule, but we are not able to comment on pending litigation.”

SpaceX confirmed that the company was protesting the contract. “Since SpaceX has started launching missions for NASA, this is the first time the company has challenged one of the agency’s award decisions,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to SpaceNews.

“SpaceX offered a solution with extraordinarily high confidence of mission success at a price dramatically lower than the award amount, so we believe the decision to pay vastly more to Boeing and Lockheed for the same mission was therefore not in the best interest of the agency or the American taxpayers,” the spokesperson added. ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

NASA said at the time of the award that it was a competitive procurement, but did not disclose the number or identity of bidders. SpaceX did not comment at that time if it submitted a bid, although industry sources, speaking on background, said that SpaceX proposed launching the mission on a fully expendable Falcon 9 rocket in order to maximize performance.

A key factor in the decision to award the contract to ULA was schedule certainty. Lucy has a complex mission profile with a series of flybys in order to visit several asteroid either leading or following Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. That results in a launch window that is open for only about 20 days in October 2021. Should the launch miss that window, the mission cannot be flown as currently planned.

ULA emphasized its adherence to schedule in its announcement of the contract. “This mission has a once-in-a-lifetime planetary launch window, and Atlas V’s world-leading schedule certainty, coupled with our reliability and performance provided the optimal vehicle for this mission,” Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA, said in a Jan. 31 statement about the launch award.

“ULA entered into an open competition for NASA’s Lucy spacecraft and was honored to be awarded this important science mission,” ULA said in a Feb. 13 statement to SpaceNews. “This interplanetary mission has an extremely narrow launch window in order to reach all of the desired planetary bodies and accomplish the science objectives. If Lucy misses this launch window, the full mission cannot be accomplished for decades.


Source: https://spacenews.com/spacex-protests-nasa-launch-contract-award/

SpaceX drops protest of NASA launch contract
Jeff Foust April 5, 2019


An Atlas 5 401 lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Aug. 18, sending the TDRS-M communications satellite into orbit. Credit: United Launch Alliance

WASHINGTON — SpaceX has withdrawn its protest of a launch contract NASA awarded to United Launch Alliance earlier this year for a planetary science mission.

SpaceX withdrew a protest April 4 that it had filed with the U.S. Government Accountability Office Feb. 11 regarding a NASA launch procurement formally known as RLSP-35. That covered a contract NASA awarded Jan. 31 to ULA for the launch of Lucy, a mission slated for launch in October 2021 to visit several Trojan asteroids in the same orbit around the sun as Jupiter.
https://spacenews.com/spacex-drops-protest-of-nasa-launch-contract/

NASA’s planetary science program shifts priority to asteroid missions
Jeff Foust August 19, 2020 [SN]


SpaceX will launch NASA's DART mission, which will fly to the near Earth asteroid Didymos and collide with its small moon as a planetary defense demonstration. Credit: JHUAPL

Lucy is one of two Discovery-class missions selected by NASA in 2017. It is scheduled to launch in October 2021 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5. The mission has a narrow launch window in order to fly a complex trajectory that will allow it fly by several Trojan asteroids in the same orbit around the sun as Jupiter during its 12-year mission.

Glaze said the Lucy mission is approaching a milestone known as Key Decision Point D that will permit it to proceed into final integration and testing. That work is continuing with “team health and safety foremost” as the pandemic persists.
https://spacenews.com/nasas-planetary-science-program-shifts-priority-to-asteroid-missions/

Government shutdown could delay NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission
Jeff Foust September 28, 2021 [SN]


NASA’s Lucy mission must launch in a three-week window that opens Oct. 16 to fly a complex trajectory that will take it past several Trojan asteroids. Credit: SwRI

WASHINGTON — A NASA asteroid mission that has remained on schedule for a mid-October launch despite disruptions caused by the pandemic is now facing a new challenge: the threat of a federal government shutdown.

The Lucy spacecraft is currently scheduled to launch in the predawn hours of Oct. 16 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The $981 million mission, part of NASA’s Discovery program, must launch during a window that is open only through Nov. 7 to fly a complex trajectory to visit several Trojan asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter in that planet’s orbit around the sun.
https://spacenews.com/government-shutdown-could-delay-nasas-lucy-asteroid-mission/
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Odp: Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
« Odpowiedź #2 dnia: Październik 17, 2021, 07:29 »
Atlas 5 launches NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission
by Jeff Foust — October 16, 2021 [SN]


A ULA Atlas 5 lifts off Oct. 16 carrying NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on a mission to study distant asteroids that may help scientists better understand the early history of the solar system. Credit: NASA TV

WASHINGTON — An Atlas 5 successfully a launched NASA spacecraft Oct. 16 on a mission to study distant asteroids that may hold clues to the early history of the solar system.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 401 rocket lifted off on schedule from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 5:34 a.m. Eastern. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, separated from the Centaur upper stage 58 minutes later, after two burns of the rocket’s Centaur upper stage. The spacecraft deployed its two circular solar arrays in a 20-minute process that started shortly after separation from the Centaur.

Source: https://spacenews.com/atlas-5-launches-nasas-lucy-asteroid-mission/

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Odp: Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
« Odpowiedź #3 dnia: Październik 17, 2021, 07:29 »
NASA asteroid explorer leaves planet Earth on Atlas 5 rocket
October 16, 2021 Stephen Clark [SFN]


A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket provided the ride to space for NASA’s Lucy asteroid probe. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Bound for a pristine population of ancient asteroids, a NASA science probe named Lucy took off from Cape Canaveral before dawn Saturday and rocketed into space on top of an Atlas 5 launcher to begin a 12-year, $981 million mission seeking out clues about the early solar system.

The mission takes advantage of a unique alignment between Earth and the Trojan asteroids, groups of objects leading and trailing Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. The trajectory will take the Lucy spacecraft near eight asteroids from 2025 until 2033, more than any other mission.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/16/nasa-asteroid-explorer-leaves-planet-earth-on-atlas-5-rocket/

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Odp: Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
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Odp: Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
« Odpowiedź #4 dnia: Październik 29, 2021, 10:14 »
NASA investigating issue with Lucy solar array
Jeff Foust October 17, 2021 [SN]


The Lucy spacecraft and one of its two solar arrays, 7.3 meters in diameter, during tests before its Oct. 16 launch. Credit: Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON — Engineers are investigating why one of the two solar arrays on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft may have failed to lock into place when deployed after launch Oct. 16.

In an Oct. 17 statement, NASA said that while the spacecraft is healthy, one of the two circular solar panels “may not be fully latched” after its deployment. The solar arrays deployed in the first half-hour after separation from the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas 5 rocket that launched it early Oct. 16.
https://spacenews.com/nasa-investigating-issue-with-lucy-solar-array/

NASA officials optimistic Lucy asteroid mission will overcome solar array snag
October 18, 2021 Stephen Clark [SFN]


Artist’s illustration of the final phase of deploying the solar arrays on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft. Credit: NASA

A NASA official said Monday there is “widespread optimism” that a solar array snag discovered on the Lucy asteroid probe after its launch over the weekend will not jeopardize the spacecraft’s 12-year exploration mission.

Lucy’s two solar arrays were folded up on each side of the box-shaped spacecraft during launch Saturday from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 5 rocket. One of the two solar array wings fully unfurled and latched after launch, but NASA says it did not receive confirmation that the other wing latched into place.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/10/18/nasa-officials-optimistic-lucy-asteroid-mission-will-overcome-solar-array-snag/
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Odp: Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
« Odpowiedź #5 dnia: Styczeń 26, 2022, 09:53 »
Cause of Lucy solar array deployment problem identified
by Jeff Foust — January 25, 2022 [SN]


Engineers believe they know why one of the two solar arrays on the Lucy spacecraft failed to fully deploy, but are still studying whether to try to redeploy the array. Credit: Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON — Engineers have identified the likely reason one of two solar arrays on NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission failed to latch in place after launch, but NASA is still studying whether to fix the problem.

At a Jan. 25 meeting NASA’s Small Bodies Assessment Group, Hal Levison, principal investigator for Lucy at the Southwest Research Institute, expressed confidence that, regardless if the solar array is fully deployed or not, the issue will not affect the spacecraft’s ability to carry out its mission to study several Trojan asteroids leading and following Jupiter in its orbit around the sun.

Source: https://spacenews.com/cause-of-lucy-solar-array-deployment-problem-identified/

Efforts continue to fully deploy Lucy solar array
by Jeff Foust — June 10, 2022 [SN]


The principal investigator for NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission says he thinks it’s like the mission can operate as planned even if one of two solar arrays does not fully deploy and latch, based on recent progress tensioning the array. Credit: Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON — Leaders of NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission are increasingly confident that the mission can continue as planned even if ongoing efforts to fully deploy and latch a solar array don’t succeed.

Engineers have been studying for months one of two circular solar arrays that did not fully deploy and latch into place after the spacecraft’s launch in October 2021. They concluded that a lanyard used to pull open the solar array lost tension during the deployment process, causing the lanyard to wrap around the motor shaft.
https://spacenews.com/efforts-continue-to-fully-deploy-lucy-solar-array/

Ninth asteroid added to Lucy mission; optimism grows on solar array issue
June 14, 2022 Stephen Clark [SFN]


The UltraFlex solar arrays on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft unfold during a ground test at a Lockheed Martin test facility in Colorado. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Engineers have made progress in attempts to fully unfurl a solar array wing that snagged on NASA’s Lucy asteroid explorer shortly after launch last October, adding to optimism that the spacecraft can complete its 12-year mission as planned.

One of Lucy’s two UltraFlex circular solar arrays opened to about 96% of its fully deployed state after arriving in space last October following a launch from Cape Canaveral. The other solar array fully unfurled as the spacecraft began a robotic science mission to fly through swarms of unexplored asteroids that lead and trail Jupiter in its orbit around the sun.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/06/14/nasa-making-progress-deploying-stuck-solar-panel-on-lucy-asteroid-probe/

NASA suspends efforts to fully deploy Lucy solar array
Jeff Foust January 21, 2023 [SN]


NASA says that while is it suspending efforts to complete deployment of one of two solar arrays, at least until late next year, the array appears stable and can generate sufficient power to carry out its mission. Credit: NASA/GSFC

WASHINGTON — NASA is suspending efforts, at least until late next year, to try to fully deploy a solar array on its Lucy spacecraft, citing diminishing returns as the spacecraft heads away from the sun.

In a statement quietly posted on NASA’s website Jan. 19, the agency said the latest effort to latch one of two solar arrays on Lucy, more than a month earlier, failed to complete the deployment of the circular array and lock it into place. That effort, NASA said, “produced only small movement in the solar array.”
https://spacenews.com/nasa-suspends-efforts-to-fully-deploy-lucy-solar-array/

NASA adds asteroid flyby to Lucy mission
Jeff Foust January 26, 2023 [SN]


NASA's Lucy spacceraft will fly by a small main-belt asteroid in November to test the spacecraft's tracking system as well as its stability given that one solar array is not fully deployed. Credit: NASA/GSFC

WASHINGTON — NASA has added another asteroid flyby to its Lucy mission later this year that will provide a test of its capabilities for future encounters.

NASA announced Jan. 25 that the spacecraft will fly by the small main-belt asteroid 1999 VD57 on Nov. 1. The project selected that asteroid after one scientist collaborating on the mission, Raphael Marschall of France’s Nice Observatory, compared the spacecraft’s trajectory to the orbits of 500,000 asteroids.
https://spacenews.com/nasa-adds-asteroid-flyby-to-lucy-mission/

UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission
Jeff Foust June 3, 2023


The MBR Explorer spacecraft is at least superficially similar in design to NASA's Lucy asteroid mission. It will fly by six asteroids in the main belt before arriving at a seventh in 2034. Credit: UAE Space Agency

WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates has released new details about its planned mission to the main asteroid belt, one that is similar to an ongoing NASA mission.

The UAE Space Agency said its Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) is scheduled to launch in March 2028, flying by six asteroids in the main asteroid belt before arriving at a seventh asteroid in 2034.
https://spacenews.com/uae-outlines-plans-for-asteroid-mission/
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Odp: Artykuły o Lucy asteroid probe
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