Lucy asteroid probe to fly by "Dinkinesh" today 1 November 2023.

[KingClinton]

The spacecraft will visit the relatively tiny space rock Dinkinesh, situated between Mars and Jupiter, before heading off to the Trojan asteroids.

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&u ... mdx3P5eDM-

[Graeme1858]

Thanks Clinton. The Lucy mission is an interesting one. And the Lucy fossil story is a good read too!

Graeme

[helicon]

Well that's interesting.

[Graeme1858]

First flyby completed. The data is on it's way!

https://www.space.com/lucy-flyby-dinkin ... ium=social

Graeme

[Unitron48]

On November 1, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft successfully completed its first asteroid flyby: https://news.yahoo.com/nasa-spacecraft- ... p_catchall.

Launched in October 2021, NASA’s Lucy mission is the first spacecraft set to explore the Trojan asteroids. These are a group of primitive space rocks orbiting our solar system’s largest planet Jupiter.

Dinkinesh is the first of 10 asteroids the probe will visit over the next 10 years. The asteroid is about 10 to 100 times smaller than the Jupiter Trojan asteroids that are the main target of the Lucy mission.

Another intriguing NASA mission!

Dave

[KingClinton]

Turns out "Dinky" has a mini me!
How cool!!!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... AK6XOgMW94

[smp]

From APNews.com:
"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The little asteroid visited by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists."

https://apnews.com/article/asteroid-spa ... 93e7693f45

smp

[Graeme1858]

And not only that, but it's a contact binary!

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lucy/ ... -asteroid/

Graeme

[Ylem]

Pretty amazing mission and accomplishment.