It won't be long before we see the launch of NASA's Lucy asteroid probe and the beginning of a new study of asteroids around Jupiter Known as the Trojan Horse, these asteroids are said to hold clues about how our solar system formed Lucy is NASA's first spacecraft to study these asteroids

Approved in January 2017, Lucy is part of the NASA Discovery Program and named after a female fossil (Australopithecus afarensis) found in Ethiopia that was discovered in 1974 to better understand human evolution helpful, and some hope or believe that the Trojan group adjacent to Jupiter may provide more information about the early history of life on Earth

The launch is scheduled for today (Saturday, October 16) at 5:34 am ET/2:34 am ET/10:34 am ET, but coverage will begin a little earlier, at 5 am ET/2 am ET/10 am ET It will begin

News networks may or may not report the launch of the Lucy Astroid mission, but we know NASA will NASA TV, which is free to watch, will broadcast the launch live for two hours today from 5 am to 7 am ET To watch the launch on TV, launch the YouTube app and open the official NASA TV stream on NASA's YouTube channel

You can also watch via the free NASA app (iOS and Google Play) and NASA's social media channels Our sister site Spacecom will also cover the launch

Want to know more, NASA is inviting the public to learn more about the event by registering (for free) on Eventbrite There, you will be provided with "access to select launch resources," "communication about launch schedule changes," and "information about highlighted launch-related activities" Basically, if you want all the data, sign up

All three briefings on the Lucy launch will take place and can be viewed on YouTube The Lucy launch is scheduled for today (Saturday, October 16) at 5:34 AM EST

All times below are Eastern Time (ET)

Dr Thomas Zurchen, Deputy Director of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, explained the importance of Lucy at a pre-launch NASA media briefing, saying that it would allow us to examine "millions of fragments" that we have not observed At that same briefing, Dr Hal Levinson of the Southwest Research Institute, Lucy's principal investigator, explained that the Trojan asteroids lead or follow Jupiter's orbit

Instead of approaching the Trojan group directly, Lucy will use a surprising orbit Lucy will first orbit Earth for one year and then use a series of Earth gravity assists to change its orbit Lucy then uses these gravity assists to ascend to the Trojans

We will see Lucy's launch today, but Lucy's mission will not be a short one As Dr Levinson explained, the final analysis of the asteroid will take place in 2033