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NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Prepares for Second Asteroid Flyby

The spacecraft will pass within 596 miles of asteroid Donaldjohanson this weekend, testing instruments and techniques for its future Trojan asteroid encounters.

Image
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft’s first views of the asteroid Donaldjohanson. The asteroid is outlined with a square in the right image to guide the eye.

Overview

  • Lucy’s April 20 flyby of Donaldjohanson marks its second asteroid encounter since launching in 2021 on a 12-year mission to study 11 asteroids.
  • The spacecraft will approach the asteroid at over 30,000 mph, coming as close as 596 miles while collecting data to refine observation techniques.
  • This weekend’s encounter serves as a dress rehearsal for Lucy’s primary mission: exploring Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids between 2027 and 2033.
  • Donaldjohanson, named after the discoverer of the Lucy fossil, is believed to be a fragment from a 150-million-year-old collision in the asteroid belt.
  • Lead scientist Hal Levison anticipates new insights into the asteroid’s size and shape, with initial data expected within a day of the flyby.