NASA’s Lucy mission has made a groundbreaking discovery during its journey to study near Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The space probe, launched on October 16, 2021, has found that one of the asteroids it visited, named Dinkinesh, has a small satellite orbiting it. This binary system asteroid was confirmed after a preliminary analysis of the first available images, which have been circulating on social networks.
Lucy’s primary objective is to reach the Langrange L4 point where the Trojan cloud is located by 2027. Along the way, the mission has expanded its goals, including flying over 11 celestial bodies such as asteroids, Trojan moons, and now a satellite. Dinkinesh, the first flyby target of the Lucy mission, was discovered on November 4, 1999, in New Mexico. On November 1, 2023, Lucy approached the asteroid to a distance of about 425 kilometers.
Initially, scientists suspected that Dinkinesh was a binary system as the asteroid’s brightness changed over time. However, Lucy’s first photos confirmed this hypothesis. The larger asteroid measures approximately 790 meters at its widest part, while the small satellite is estimated to be about 220 meters in size.
This discovery not only adds to the mission’s objectives but also serves as a successful flight test for Lucy. The mission has demonstrated its ability to autonomously track asteroids, proving the effectiveness of its tracking system.
The findings of NASA’s Lucy mission have garnered significant interest in the scientific community and among space enthusiasts. It highlights the ongoing exploration of our solar system and the fascinating discoveries waiting to be made.