NASA’s Lucy spacecraft to fly by asteroid Donaldjohanson

According to NASA, Lucy will come within 960 kilometres (596 miles) of asteroid Donaldjohanson – named in honour of the paleoanthropologist who discovered the “Lucy” hominin fossil. The closest point of the flyby is expected to occur at 19:51 South Africa Standard Time (SAST). During the approach, Lucy will utilize its three onboard instruments to capture detailed observations of the asteroid as it gets closer. The spacecraft will rotate in coordination with the asteroid over several hours to obtain a comprehensive view. Tracking will cease just before the point of closest approach, as Lucy will need to orient itself to shield its sensitive instruments from the sun’s glare to prevent potential damage.

Previously, in 2023, the Lucy spacecraft visited a smaller asteroid named Dinkinesh. Observations from that encounter revealed that Dinkinesh is orbited by a contact binary, described by NASA as a peanut-shaped double moon “made of two smaller objects touching each other.” Following the Donaldjohanson flyby, Lucy will proceed towards its primary targets: a collection of “Trojan” asteroids that orbit the sun along the same path as Jupiter. The spacecraft is projected to reach the first of these Trojan asteroids in 2027.

See also

Tom Statler, the Lucy mission program scientist, emphasized the significance of these encounters, stating in a press release, “Every asteroid has a different story to tell, and these stories weave together to paint the history of our solar system. The fact that each new asteroid we visit knocks our socks off means we’re only beginning to understand the depth and richness of that history. Telescopic observations are hinting that Donaldjohanson is going to have an interesting story, and I’m fully expecting to be surprised — again.”