NASA's Lucy mission provides full view of asteroid Donaldjohanson
image: Asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy spacecraft from a range of about 1,700 miles (2,700 km), about 3.2 minutes before closest approach on April 20, 2025. This is the highest resolution image yet of the entire asteroid, taken just before it overfilled the L’LORRI field of view. The smallest visible features are about 130 feet (40 meters) across. The illumination conditions, with the Sun almost behind Lucy, greatly reduce the contrast of topographic details.
Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL
Scientists with NASA’s Lucy mission continue to analyze data collected during the spacecraft’s April 20 encounter with the main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson.
The images were taken by the spacecraft’s L’LORRI imager a few minutes before its closest approach. This successful dress rehearsal gives the team high confidence that both the spacecraft and the team are well prepared for the main events: the upcoming encounters with the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
The spacecraft itself is now in a relatively quiet cruise period as it continues traveling through the main asteroid belt. Lucy is heading away from the Sun at more than 30,000 mph (50,000 km per hour), and the team will keep monitoring the spacecraft as it moves toward the cooler and dimmer outer solar system.
Once Lucy reaches the Trojan asteroids, it will conduct four encounters, observing at least six asteroids (including two satellites discovered by the Lucy team) in less than 15 months. The first encounter will be with the asteroid Eurybates in August 2027.