NASA's Lucy Mission Flyby of Asteroid Dinkinesh

  • Released Thursday, October 19, 2023
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Video: NASA's Lucy Mission Flies By Asteroid Dinkinesh

Music provided by Universal Production Music: "Pioneer" - Lorenzo Castellarin

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

On Nov 1st 2023, NASA's Lucy spacecraft will fly by the small Main Belt asteroid Dinkinesh (previously known as 1999 VD57). This asteroid flyby was added to Lucy’s list of targets in January of 2023. The primary purpose of the Dinkinesh encounter is to test the spacecraft’s Terminal Tracking System, which will keep Lucy's instruments pointing at the asteroid as it flies by at 10,000 miles per hour. The Lucy mission’s record-breaking tour will now explore at least 10 small solar system bodies. Lucy will have the close approach with Dinkinesh as the spacecraft skims the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. After the encounter, Lucy will head back towards Earth and its second gravity assist in December 2024. That assist will send the spacecraft to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

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Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, October 19, 2023.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 4:26 PM EDT.