binary asteroids
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Another Lucy Bonus: Asteroid’s Surprise Moon Is Actually Two Rocks Stuck Together
The first look at the Dinkinesh asteroid revealed a surprise: The small space rock had its own moon. Now as the Lucy spacecraft downlinked more images of its first target, it showed not one but two tiny asteroids orbiting around Dinkinesh. NASA’s Lucy mission made a close flyby of the Dinkinesh asteroid on November 1,…
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NASA’s Lucy Probe Phones Home From 49-Million-Mile Journey to Asteroid
The Lucy spacecraft is on a 12-year journey to visit eight different asteroids, and it’s almost caught up with the first space rock on its checklist. Since it launched in October 2021, NASA’s Lucy mission has trekked through over 33 million miles (54 million kilometres) in space. The spacecraft is now 4.7 million miles (7.6…
