Trojan

NASA's Lucy spacecraft will swoop past a small asteroid this weekend as it makes its way to an even bigger prize: the unexplored swarms of asteroids out near Jupiter.

The Lucy spacecraft will observe the asteroid Donaldjohanson on Sunday afternoon, before it moves on to study a handful of Jupiter trojans starting in 2027.

Images from the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh by NASA's Lucy spacecraft show a trough on Dinkinesh where a large piece — about a quarter of the

NASA's Lucy spacecraft serendipitously found a small moonlet orbiting the mission's asteroid target Dinkinesh. Scientists named it Selam, and have now...

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When the interstellar object (ISO) 'Oumuamua appeared in our solar system in 2017, it generated a ton of interest. The urge to learn more about it was fierce, but unfortunately, there was no way to really do so. It came and went, and we were left to ponder what it was made of and where it came from. Then, in 2019, the ISO comet Borisov came for a brief visit, and again, we were left to wonder about it.

NASA snapped a picture of an asteroid in an outer belt near Mars, which had a tiny moon orbiting the space rock called Dinkinesh. The photo was taken using the spacecraft Lucy.

The little asteroid visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists.

NASA's Lucy spacecraft has found a hidden asteroid "moon" swirling around the larger main belt asteroid Dinkinesh, affectionately known as Dinky.

NASA's Lucy mission flew by the asteroid Dinkinesh this week, and the images it captured revealed not one but two space rocks.

NASA's Lucy mission flew past an asteroid nicknamed Dinky, only to discover an even smaller space rock orbiting it

NASA's Lucy spacecraft made its first asteroid flyby. But when it returned the images it took, there was a surprise in store: a second, even smaller asteroid.

The initial images sent back by Lucy unveiled an unexpected finding.

On its way to the Trojan swarms, the spacecraft made a pit stop at a rock named Dinkinesh — and the images it sent back revealed that this asteroid has its own moon.

On Wednesday, the spacecraft will come close to the small asteroid Dinkinesh.

NASA said during a live stream Wednesday that Bennu asteroid samples collected by the OSIRIS-Rex mission contain water, carbon and organic molecules - the building blocks of life.

This fall, NASA is all about asteroids. OSIRIS-REx's brought samples from Bennu; Psyche will visit a space rock; and the Lucy spacecraft will fly by an asteroid.

NASA's Lucy spacecraft just sent home an impressive glimpse of the smallest asteroid target on its 12-year agenda to study intriguing space rocks.

A distant Jupiter-size planet could have the shattered remains of a smaller sibling in its tow.

Lucy will become the first to investigate the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter, visiting a record number of space rocks beginning in late 2023.