That New Asteroid Image from Lucy Just Got Even More Interesting. Lucy’s images of asteroid Dinkinesh are the gift that keeps on giving. First, it was the discovery of a smaller companion. Now, it turns out that the companion itself is a contact binary.

The Lucy spacecraft captured images of the asteroid Dinkinesh on November 1, 2023. The images revealed that Dinkinesh has a smaller asteroid moon orbiting it. This makes Dinkinesh the first binary asteroid ever imaged up close during a flyby.

The Lucy spacecraft has three instruments in its payload: 

• A high-resolution visible imager 
• An optical and near-infrared imaging spectrometer 
• A thermal infrared spectrometer 

The apparent motion of the two asteroids is due to the motion of the spacecraft as it flew past at 10,000 mph (4.5 km/s). These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.

NASA’s Lucy mission will visit seven Trojan asteroids between 2027 and 2033. The Lucy mission’s targets include: 

• The binary asteroid Patroclus/Menoetius 
• Eurybates 
• Orus 
• Leucus 
• Polymele 
• The main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson 

The Lucy mission is the first visit to a group of asteroids called Trojans that share Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun. The asteroids are in orbits around the sun and are the same distance as Jupiter. 

The Lucy mission is a 12-year-long mission that launched on October 16, 2021. Lucy is expected to reach the first of the so-called Trojan asteroids in 2027 and explore them for at least six years.

The NASA Lucy mission is for Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. The Trojans are a group of space rocks that are gravitationally bound to Jupiter and orbit the sun together with it. The primary aim of the Lucy mission is to survey the Trojans, which are a never-before-explored population of small bodies that orbit the Sun in two “swarms” that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit.

The Lucy mission is the first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The Lucy spacecraft will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by three asteroids in the solar system’s main asteroid belt, and by eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter. 

The Lucy mission is a 12-year-long mission that launched on October 16, 2021. Lucy is expected to reach the first of the so-called Trojan asteroids in 2027 and explore them for at least six years. 

The objective of Mission Lucy is to uncover the origins of the universe, whose data can be found on the surface of the Trojan asteroids. These ancient space rocks hold important clues to the creation of our solar system and, potentially, the origin of life on Earth

Here are some more interesting facts about the Lucy mission: 

• Lucy will travel almost 4 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) during its 12-year mission. 
• Lucy’s average cruising speed is about 39,000 miles (62,000 kilometers) per hour. 
• Lucy will fly by Earth three times to get a push from its gravity. 
• Lucy is named for a famous female Australopithecus afarensis fossil found in Ethiopia. 
• It is hoped that the spacecraft Lucy will similarly elucidate our solar system’s earliest days.

The Lucy mission is important because it could help us understand the origins of the universe and the solar system. The Trojan asteroids are ancient space rocks that may hold clues to the creation of our solar system and the origin of life on Earth. The Lucy mission is also fostering the development of more efficient solar cells

The Lucy mission is named after the 3.2 million-year-old australopithecine skeleton discovered in 1974, which revealed secrets of human evolution. The NASA team hopes that the robotic Lucy does the same for the solar system’s evolution

The Lucy spacecraft is solar-powered.  It has two large solar arrays that are folded up for launch and then deploy into a decagon.  Each solar panel is close to 24 feet (7 meters) in diameter.  The solar arrays deliver a lot of power for their weight, which leaves room for the spacecraft and its instruments. 

Lucy will travel farther from the sun than any other solar-powered craft, out to 850 million kilometers. The spacecraft’s solar arrays are critical for gathering rays from the sun and generating power for the spacecraft on its 12-year trip through the Solar System.

Yes, the Lucy spacecraft will return to Earth three times to get a gravity assist: 

• December 2024 Lucy will return to Earth for its second gravity assist. This push will send it back to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. 
• 2030 Lucy will return to Earth for a third gravity assist to re-target the spacecraft for a rendezvous with the Patroclus-Menoetius binary asteroid pair. 
• 2031 Lucy will return to Earth for another gravity assist toward the L5 Trojan cloud. 

Lucy’s 4-billion-mile journey will take it out to the orbit of Jupiter and the realm of Trojan asteroids, then back in toward Earth for gravity assists three times. This will be the first time a spacecraft has ever returned to Earth’s vicinity from the outer solar system.

The Lucy spacecraft is more than 52 feet (16 meters) from tip to tip. The spacecraft’s main bus is approximately 4 meters tall, with two large (7.3 m diameter) solar array disks extending from opposite sides. Most of the width of the spacecraft is the enormous solar panels used to power it. 

The Lucy spacecraft has the following dimensions: 

• Launch mass: 1,550 kg (3,420 lb) 
• Dry mass: 821 kg (1,810 lb) 
• Dimensions: 13 m (43 ft) in long 
• Power: 504 watts (furthest encounter) 

The Lucy spacecraft is the centerpiece of a US$981 million mission.( source google)

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