Nasa spacecraft Lucy blasts off on 12-year mission to explore asteroids

Lucy launched rom Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

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

Seven of the mysterious space rocks are among swarms of asteroids sharing Jupiter’s orbit, thought to be the pristine leftovers of planetary formation.