In a surprising discovery, NASA's Lucy spacecraft, which is on a mission to research Jupiter's asteroids, encountered the asteroid Dinkinesh and found that it has a small moon orbiting it. The spacecraft flew by Dinkinesh, located in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars, approximately 300 million miles away. During the flyby, Lucy captured a picture of Dinkinesh and its mini moon when it was about 270 miles away from the asteroid and transmitted the data and images back to Earth. The spacecraft confirmed that Dinkinesh is only a half-mile across, while its moon is even smaller at one-tenth of a mile in size.

This encounter with Dinkinesh served as a rehearsal for Lucy's main mission, which is to study the mysterious asteroids near Jupiter. The spacecraft, launched in 2021, is expected to reach the first of these Trojan asteroids in 2027 and spend at least six years exploring them. Initially, the mission targeted seven asteroids, but the list has now expanded to 11.

The name “Dinkinesh” means "you are marvelous" in the Amharic language of Ethiopia, which is also the Amharic name for Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old remains of a human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in the 1970s. Hal Levison, the lead scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, expressed his awe at the discovery, stating, "Dinkinesh really did live up to its name; this is marvelous."

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On Wednesday, the Lucy spacecraft made its first encounter with an asteroid as part of its mission to study Jupiter's asteroids. The spacecraft, traveling at a speed of 10,000 mph, flew past the small asteroid Dinkinesh in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. NASA described it as a quick interaction, with Lucy coming within 270 miles of Dinkinesh. This flyby served as a test for the spacecraft's instruments before it continues on to larger and more intriguing asteroids.

Dinkinesh, with a size of just half a mile across, is likely the smallest asteroid on Lucy's tour. The spacecraft's primary targets are the Trojans, groups of asteroids near Jupiter that are believed to hold valuable information about the early solar system. Lucy will pass by eight Trojans, which are estimated to be 10 to 100 times bigger than Dinkinesh. The final two asteroids in Lucy's mission will be encountered in 2033.

Launched in 2021, Lucy is a nearly $1 billion mission by NASA. Unlike other recent asteroid missions, such as the sample return mission from the asteroid Bennu and the upcoming exploration of the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, Lucy will not stop at any asteroids or collect samples. Its purpose is to capture images and data to study these celestial bodies.

During the flyby, Lucy took pictures and gathered data from Dinkinesh, which will take at least a week to transmit back to Earth. Previously, Dinkinesh had only been observed as an unresolved smudge through telescopes. The successful encounter with this asteroid and its moon has provided scientists with valuable information for the upcoming exploration of Jupiter's Trojans.