NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is set to make an exciting flyby of a small asteroid this weekend as it continues its journey to explore the fascinating swarms of asteroids near Jupiter. This mission, which began with Lucy’s launch in 2021, will see the spacecraft encounter a total of 11 asteroids, offering scientists invaluable insights into the early days of our solar system, when planets were first taking shape.
This weekend’s encounter marks Lucy’s second asteroid flyby. The upcoming flyby will serve as a practice run for a more significant event planned for 2027 when Lucy reaches its first Trojan asteroid, which shares Jupiter’s orbit around the sun.
During the flyby on Sunday, Lucy will use its three scientific instruments to observe an asteroid named Donaldjohanson. This asteroid is located about 139 million miles from Earth in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It’s interesting to note that communication will be delayed; it will take 12 minutes for information to travel back to mission control in Colorado.
The asteroid is named after the famous paleontologist who discovered the fossil of the early human ancestor Lucy in Ethiopia 50 years ago. He will be present at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Control to witness the event firsthand.
As Lucy gets close — within 596 miles of Donaldjohanson — scientists expect to gather vital information about the asteroid’s size and shape. The asteroid is estimated to be about 2 ½ miles long, though it is narrower in width. The spacecraft will approach at an impressive speed of over 30,000 mph.
This asteroid, like many others, is believed to be a fragment from a significant collision that occurred 150 million years ago. Lead scientist Hal Levison has said that while we don’t know exactly what to expect from Donaldjohanson, it could resemble a bowling pin or even a snowman shape, similar to another celestial body NASA researched in the past.
During the flyby, Lucy will not be able to communicate with Earth, as it will need to turn its antenna away to properly track the asteroid. However, scientists anticipate that most of the scientific data will be available within a day.
Looking ahead, Lucy’s real mission kicks off with the Trojan asteroids, where swarms follow and precede Jupiter as it travels around the sun. Over the span of several years, Lucy will visit eight of these ancient celestial bodies. The mission’s first asteroid encounter took place in 2023, when it passed by a smaller asteroid named Dinkinesh and even discovered a small moon orbiting it.
This mission showcases America’s continued dedication to space exploration and the pursuit of knowledge about our own origins and the cosmos that surrounds us.
