NASA to launch first space probe to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids

The capsule with NASA's Lucy spacecraft, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for a mission to study the Trojan asteroids in the outer solar system, stands at Pad-41 in preparation for launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

(Reuters) - NASA is set on Saturday to launch a first-of-its kind mission, dubbed Lucy, to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two large clusters of space rocks that scientists believe are remnants of primordial material that formed the solar system's outer planets.

The space probe, packed inside a special cargo capsule, is due for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:34 a.m. EDT (0934 GMT), carried aloft by an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (UAL), a joint venture of Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp.