Lucy will become the first to investigate the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter, visiting a record number of space rocks beginning in late 2023.
it is hoped the Lucy mission will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.
During Lucy's flyby of Dinkinesh, it will pass the space rock at a distance of just 265 miles while traveling at around 10,000 miles per hour relative to the asteroid.. Dinkinesh, or ድንቅነሽ in the Ethiopian language Amharic, means"you are marvelous." launched on Oct. 16, 2021 , was set to visit just eight Trojan asteroids during its 12-year mission, but Dinkinesh was added as its first stop to provide an important opportunity to test some of the probe's instruments before it gets to the Trojans. In addition to serving as an important test flight, the visit to Dinkinesh will also reveal important information about the asteroid, the smallest main asteroid belt object ever explored by a space probe.
"This is really a tiny little asteroid," Southwest Research Institute planetary scientist and Lucy's principal investigator, Hal Levison, said about Dinkineshin February."Some of the team affectionately refer to it as 'Dinky.' But, for a small asteroid, we expect it to be a big help for the Lucy mission."
Some of LUCY's Trojan asteroid targets, Eurybates, Polymede, Leucus, and Orus as seen by the spacecraft. an illustration of LUCY.
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