Lucy Team Announces A New Asteroid Target

Science and Exploration By Keith Cowing Press Release SwRI January 25, 2023 Filed under Asteroid, Lucy Mission, NASA, SwRI As NASA’s Lucy spacecraft travels through the inner edge of the main asteroid belt in the fall of 2023, the spacecraft will fly by the small, as-of-yet unnamed, asteroid (152830) 1999 VD57.1, 2023, the Southwest Research Institute-led Lucy mission will get a close-up view of a small main belt asteroid to conduct an engineering test of the spacecraft’s innovative asteroid-tracking navigation system.Originally, Lucy was not expected to get a close-up view of any asteroids until 2025, when it will fly by the main belt asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson.“There are millions of asteroids in the main asteroid belt,” said Dr.

In fact, 1999 VD57 will be the smallest main belt asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft, estimated to be a mere 0.However, the SwRI-led Lucy team identified a small, as-yet unnamed asteroid in the inner main belt as a potential new and useful target for the Lucy spacecraft.