**Title: NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Discovers Dinky Moon Orbiting Mars’ Asteroid**
*Date: November 5, 2023*
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, launched in October 2021 with the objective to study Jupiter’s asteroids, recently captured a surprising image of a smaller asteroid near Mars. The photograph revealed the existence of a tiny moon orbiting the asteroid, leaving scientists astounded.
The asteroid, named Dinkinesh, turned out to have an unexpected companion, referred to as a “dinky” moon. The discovery was made when Lucy conducted a flyby of Dinkinesh in Mars’ main asteroid belt, located nearly 300 million miles away. According to the Associated Press, this breakthrough occurred when the spacecraft was 270 miles away from the asteroid, and the collected data and images were transmitted back to Earth.
The released image unveils Dinkinesh’s size, measuring just half a mile across, along with its miniature moon, which is approximately one-tenth of a mile across. The revelation of this celestial partnership took scientists by surprise, marking a remarkable finding in NASA’s space exploration efforts.
This unprecedented feat was not the primary objective of the Lucy mission, but rather a rehearsal for a more extensive upcoming mission that seeks to investigate mysterious asteroids near Jupiter. NASA intends to delve deeper into the exploration of these enigmatic celestial bodies in order to gain valuable insights into the formation of the solar system and planetary origins.
Launched on October 16, 2021, Lucy embarks on a 12-year-long voyage, making it the pioneer mission dedicated to studying the asteroids orbiting Jupiter. These asteroids reside at an equal distance from the sun as Jupiter, forming intricate orbits filled with scientific potential. It is projected that Lucy will reach the first of the so-called Trojan asteroids by 2027, where extensive exploration and analysis will be carried out for a minimum of six years. Originally designed to observe seven asteroids, the mission has expanded its target to a total of 11.
The name Dinkinesh, given to the asteroid, holds significance as it signifies “you are marvelous” in Amharic, the language of Ethiopia. Dinkinesh is also the Amharic name for Lucy, the fossilized remains of a human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in the 1970s, which serves as the inspiration behind the spacecraft’s name. The recent discovery of a dinky moon orbiting Dinkinesh has prompted excitement within the scientific community, as it further enhances the mission’s symbolically significant connection between origins, exploration, and the mysteries of our universe.
Southwest Research Institute’s Hal Levison, the lead scientist for the Lucy mission, expressed his amazement, stating, “Dinkinesh really did live up to its name; this is marvelous.” The findings of the Lucy spacecraft’s encounter with Dinkinesh, along with its tiny moon, provide a glimpse into the mysteries lying within our cosmic neighborhood, steadily transforming our understanding of the vast expanse of space.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.