NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Encounters First Asteroid on Journey to Jupiter

NASA's Lucy spacecraft has encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its long journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft swooped past the pint-sized Dinkinesh, about 300 million miles away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars.

NASA's Lucy spacecraft has encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its long journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft swooped past the pint-sized Dinkinesh, about 300 million miles (480 million kilometers) away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. It was "a quick hello," according to NASA, with the spacecraft zooming by at 10,000 mph (16,000 kph). Lucy came within 270 miles (435 kilometers) of Dinkinesh, testing its instruments in a dry run for the bigger and more alluring asteroids ahead.

Dinkinesh: A Small But Significant Asteroid

Dinkinesh is just a half-mile (1 kilometer) across, quite possibly the smallest of the space rocks on Lucy's tour. However, it is still a significant object, as it is believed to be a time capsule from the dawn of the solar system. Lucy's main targets are the so-called Trojans, swarms of unexplored asteroids out near Jupiter that are considered to be time capsules from the dawn of the solar system. The spacecraft will swing past eight Trojans believed to be up to 10 to 100 times bigger than Dinkinesh. It is due to zip past the final two asteroids in 2033.

Lucy's Mission

NASA launched Lucy on its nearly USD 1 billion mission two years ago. The spacecraft is named after the 3.2 million-year-old skeletal remains of a human ancestor found in Ethiopia in the 1970s. Lucy will next swing past an asteroid named after one of the fossil Lucy's discoverers: Donald Johanson. One of two solar wings on the spacecraft remains loose. Flight controllers gave up trying to latch it down, but it is believed to be stable enough for the entire mission.

Asteroid Autumn

Wednesday's flyby caps what NASA is calling Asteroid Autumn. NASA returned its first samples of rubble from an asteroid in September. Then in October, it launched a spacecraft to a rare, metal-rich asteroid named Psyche. Unlike those missions, Lucy will not stop at any asteroids or collect any samples. It will take at least a week for the spacecraft to send back all its pictures and data from the flyby.

Significance of the Flyby

Until now, Dinkineshs only been "an unresolved smudge in the best telescopes," Southwest Research Institutes Hal Levison, the lead scientist, said in a statement. The flyby has provided scientists with their first close-up look at this mysterious object. The data collected will help them to better understand the composition and origin of asteroids, as well as the formation of the solar system.

The Lucy spacecraft's encounter with Dinkinesh is a significant milestone in its journey to Jupiter. The data collected from the flyby will help scientists to better understand the composition and origin of asteroids, as well as the formation of the solar system. The mission is a testament to NASA's commitment to exploring the solar system and expanding our knowledge of the universe.