A NASA spacecraft named Lucy rocketed into the sky with diamonds Saturday morning on a 12-year quest to explore eight asteroids.

Seven of the mysterious space rocks are among swarms of asteroids sharing JupiterB次元官网网址檚 orbit, thought to be the pristine leftovers of planetary formation.

An Atlas V rocket blasted off before dawn, sending Lucy on a roundabout journey spanning nearly 4 billion miles (6.3 billion kilometers). Researchers grew emotional describing the successful launch B次元官网网址� lead scientist Hal Levison said it was like witnessing the birth of a child. B次元官网网址淕o Lucy!B次元官网网址� he urged.

Lucy is named after the 3.2 million-year-old skeletal remains of a human ancestor found in Ethiopia nearly a half-century ago. That discovery got its name from the 1967 Beatles song B次元官网网址淟ucy in the Sky with Diamonds,B次元官网网址� prompting NASA to send the spacecraft soaring with band membersB次元官网网址� lyrics and other luminariesB次元官网网址� words of wisdom imprinted on a plaque. The spacecraft also carried a disc made of lab-grown diamonds for one of its science instruments.

In a prerecorded video for NASA, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr paid tribute to his late colleague John Lennon, credited for writing the song that inspired all this.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 so excited B次元官网网址� Lucy is going back in the sky with diamonds. Johnny will love that,B次元官网网址� Starr said. B次元官网网址淎nyway, if you meet anyone up there, Lucy, give them peace and love from me.B次元官网网址�

The paleoanthropologist behind the fossil Lucy discovery, Donald Johanson, had goose bumps watching Lucy soar B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淚 will never look at Jupiter the same B次元官网网址� absolutely mind-expanding.B次元官网网址� He said he was filled with wonder about this B次元官网网址渋ntersection of our past, our present and our future.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭hat a human ancestor who lived so long ago stimulated a mission which promises to add valuable information about the formation of our solar system is incredibly exciting,B次元官网网址� said Johanson, of Arizona State University, who traveled to Cape Canaveral for his first rocket launch.

LucyB次元官网网址檚 $981 million mission is the first to aim for JupiterB次元官网网址檚 so-called Trojan entourage: thousands B次元官网网址� if not millions B次元官网网址� of asteroids that share the gas giantB次元官网网址檚 expansive orbit around the sun. Some of the Trojan asteroids precede Jupiter in its orbit, while others trail it.

Despite their orbits, the Trojans are far from the planet and mostly scattered far from each other. So thereB次元官网网址檚 essentially zero chance of Lucy getting clobbered by one as it swoops past its targets, said Levison of Southwest Research Institute, the missionB次元官网网址檚 principal scientist.

Lucy will swing past Earth next October and again in 2024 to get enough gravitational oomph to make it all the way out to JupiterB次元官网网址檚 orbit. On the way there, the spacecraft will zip past asteroid Donaldjohanson between Mars and Jupiter. The aptly named rock will serve as a 2025 warm-up act for the science instruments.

Drawing power from two huge circular solar wings, Lucy will chase down five asteroids in the leading pack of Trojans in the late 2020s. The spacecraft will then zoom back toward Earth for another gravity assist in 2030. That will send Lucy back out to the trailing Trojan cluster, where it will zip past the final two targets in 2033 for a record-setting eight asteroids visited in a single mission.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a complicated, circuitous path that had NASAB次元官网网址檚 science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, shaking his head at first. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e got to be kidding. This is possible?B次元官网网址� he recalled asking.

Lucy will pass within 600 miles (965 kilometers) of each target; the biggest one is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) across.

B次元官网网址淎re there mountains? Valleys? Pits? Mesas? Who knows? IB次元官网网址檓 sure weB次元官网网址檙e going to be surprised,B次元官网网址� said Johns Hopkins UniversityB次元官网网址檚 Hal Weaver, whoB次元官网网址檚 in charge of LucyB次元官网网址檚 black-and-white camera. B次元官网网址淏ut we can hardly wait to see what B次元官网网址� images will reveal about these fossils from the formation of the solar system.B次元官网网址�

NASA plans to launch another mission next month to test whether humans might be able to alter an asteroidB次元官网网址檚 orbit B次元官网网址� practice in case Earth ever has a killer rock headed this way.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical InstituteB次元官网网址檚 Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

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