NASA’s Lucy Mission to Explore Asteroid Donaldjohanson

NASA’s Lucy Mission to Explore Asteroid Donaldjohanson

NASA’s Lucy Mission is heading to the Jupiter Trojans—an unexplored population of asteroids considered to be the fossils of planetary formation. Along the way, Lucy is traveling through the main asteroid belt, on course to fly past 52246 Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025. The asteroid was named in honor of the paleoanthropologist who discovered the Lucy fossil in 1974, rewriting the textbooks on human origins.

Donaldjohanson is a member of the Erigone asteroid family, created about 150 million years ago when the large asteroid 163 Erigone was pummeled in a collision. Earth-based observations suggest that it is carbon-rich, has an average diameter of about 4 kilometers, and spins on its axis extremely slowly, giving it a 251-hour “day.” Shortly after the flyby, Lucy will deliver the first close-up views of Donaldjohanson, bringing to light a surviving remnant of the solar system’s chaotic past.

Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/lucy/nasas-lucy-spacecraft-prepares-second-asteroid-encounter/

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
Dan Gallagher: Producer/Narrator
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez: Animator
Kel Elkins: Animator
Johathan North: Animator
Michael Lentz: Animator/Art Director
Walt Feimer: Animation Lead
Nancy Jones: Public Affairs
Katherine Kretke: Public Affairs

Duration: 3 minutes, 43 seconds
Release Date: April 14, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #LucyMission #LucySpacecraft #Asteroids #Asteroid #AsteroidBelt #52246Donaldjohanson #ErigoneAsteroids #163Erigone #JupiterTrojans #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #GSFC #SwRI #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video