NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Captures Initial Photographs of Asteroid Dinkinesh During Its 12-Year Exploratory Mission

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Captures Initial Photographs of Asteroid Dinkinesh During Its 12-Year Exploratory Mission

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has obtained its first photographs of the main belt asteroid Dinkinesh, marking the beginning of its study of 10 different asteroids over a 12-year timeframe. Currently situated 14 million miles from the asteroid, Lucy is scheduled to come within 265 miles of Dinkinesh on November 1, 2023, as part of a systems-testing exercise. Image Credits: NASA

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NASA’s Lucy spacecraft offers an initial visual observation of the asteroid Dinkinesh. Within a two-month period, Lucy will move closer to the celestial body for systems verification, culminating in a close approach slated for November 1, 2023.

The minor point shifting against the celestial backdrop is Lucy spacecraft’s inaugural view of the main belt asteroid Dinkinesh. This object is the first of 10 asteroids Lucy aims to explore during its 12-year journey. The first two images were taken on September 2 and 5, 2023. The left-side visual transitions between these initial images, while on the right, the asteroid is encircled for easier identification.

Distance and Mission Goals

When these images were captured, Lucy was 14 million miles (or 23 million km) distant from Dinkinesh, an asteroid that measures approximately half a mile in diameter (1 km). In the ensuing two months, the spacecraft will reduce this distance to a close approach of 265 miles (or 425 km) on November 1, 2023. The Lucy team will utilize this close proximity to trial various spacecraft functionalities and protocols, with particular emphasis on the terminal tracking system designed to maintain the asteroid within the instruments’ field of vision as Lucy travels at a speed of 10,000 mph (4.5 km/s).

For the following months, Lucy will persist in capturing images of Dinkinesh as part of its optical navigation program. This program employs the asteroid’s relative position against the stars to fine-tune the spacecraft’s trajectory for a precise flyby. Dinkinesh will continue to appear as an indistinct light point until the day of the close approach, when surface details will begin to emerge.

Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation

The most luminous star within this field of view is HD 34258, a star in the Auriga constellation with a 7.6 magnitude, invisible to the unaided eye from Earth. Dinkinesh has a 19 magnitude, rendering it approximately 150,000 times dimmer than HD 34258. The frame spans roughly 74,500 miles (or 120,000 km). Lucy’s high-resolution camera, known as the L’LORRI instrument—Lucy LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager—was supplied by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

Project Team and Institutional Partnerships

Hal Levison, the principal investigator for Lucy, operates from the Boulder, Colorado, office of the Southwest Research Institute, which has its headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, oversees the general mission management, systems engineering, and safety protocols. Lockheed Martin Space, located in Littleton, Colorado, constructed the Lucy spacecraft. Lucy represents the 13th mission within NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on behalf of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

More about Lucy spacecraft

• NASA’s Official Lucy Mission Page
• Southwest Research Institute Lucy Mission Overview
• NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
• Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
• Lockheed Martin Space
• NASA’s Discovery Program
• Marshall Space Flight Center
• Asteroid Belt Overview
• Optical Navigation in Space Exploration
• Magnitude Scale in Astronomy