Unveiling Astonishing Discoveries: NASA's Surprising Encounters with Asteroids

NASA's Lucy mission, which recently flew by the small asteroid Dinkinesh, has made a surprising discovery. Initially believed to be part of a binary pair, new images reveal that Dinkinesh is actually a contact binary, consisting of two smaller asteroids touching each other. The close approach was primarily a test for the spacecraft's equipment, but the unexpected finding has left scientists puzzled. Lucy's main goal is to survey the Trojan asteroids around Jupiter, and its next close encounter will be with another main belt asteroid in 2025 before heading towards the Trojans in 2027.