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6d ago

NASA's Lucy Mission Captures Detailed Images of Asteroid Donaldjohanson

The spacecraft's April 20 flyby revealed the asteroid's contact-binary structure and complex geology, marking a key systems test ahead of its 2027 Trojan asteroid encounters.

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An artist's conception of the Lucy spacecraft inspecting a Trojan asteroid.
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NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Just Met Its Second Target, Asteroid Donaldjohanson – And It’s Defied Scientists' Expectations

Overview

  • Lucy flew within 600 miles of asteroid Donaldjohanson, capturing high-resolution images and data during its closest approach on April 20, 2025.
  • Preliminary analysis confirms Donaldjohanson is a contact binary with two lobes connected by a narrow neck, resembling nested ice cream cones.
  • The asteroid is larger than initially estimated, measuring approximately 5 miles long and 2 miles wide at its widest point.
  • This flyby served as a full dress rehearsal for Lucy's primary mission to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, with the first target set for August 2027.
  • NASA is currently downlinking additional data from the encounter, which will provide further insights into the asteroid's shape, geology, and formation history.