NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured striking images of asteroid Donaldjohanson during a flyby on April 20, 2025.
“Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology,” says Hal Levison, principal investigator for Lucy at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. As we study the complex structures in detail, they will reveal important information about the building blocks and collisional processes that formed the planets in our Solar System.
Our solar system is beautifully freaky. NASA's Lucy mission just flew within 700 miles of past the (until-now) unexplored asteroid Donaldjohanson. This is what it looks like: https://t.co/GfjcpRRq6J pic.twitter.com/1UCIPjrIS0
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) April 22, 2025
Initial analysis suggests the asteroid measures approximately 5 miles long and 2 miles wide at its broadest point.
Only part of the asteroid is visible in the first batch of high-resolution images, with more data expected to arrive within a week.
Our solar system is beautifully freaky. NASA's Lucy mission just flew within 700 miles of past the (until-now) unexplored asteroid Donaldjohanson. This is what it looks like: https://t.co/GfjcpRRq6J pic.twitter.com/1UCIPjrIS0
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) April 22, 2025
Lucy captures Donaldjohanson flyby images
Although not a primary target, this encounter served as a full-scale test for Lucy’s instruments before it ventures to its main objectives, the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter.
Our #LucyMission took a look at asteroid Donaldjohanson, its second asteroid encounter on its journey to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. The first images reveal a unique fragment of an asteroid that formed about 150 million years ago! Find out more: https://t.co/Bgg5CkQfYd pic.twitter.com/lgZRG8Qngh
— NASA (@NASA) April 21, 2025
The flyby acted as a dress rehearsal, with the team conducting dense observations to maximize data collection. Launched on October 16, 2021, NASA’s Lucy mission aims to be the first to explore the Trojans, a population of primitive asteroids orbiting alongside Jupiter. The spacecraft will spend the remainder of 2025 traveling through the main asteroid belt and is set to encounter the Trojan asteroid Eurybates in August 2027.
Our solar system is beautifully freaky. NASA's Lucy mission just flew within 700 miles of past the (until-now) unexplored asteroid Donaldjohanson. This is what it looks like: https://t.co/GfjcpRRq6J pic.twitter.com/1UCIPjrIS0
— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) April 22, 2025
These early images of Donaldjohanson are again showing the tremendous capabilities of the Lucy spacecraft as an engine of discovery,” said Tom Statler, program scientist for the Lucy mission at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Lucy has the potential to open a new window into the history of our solar system when it reaches the Trojan asteroids.”
A little while ago, the Lucy spacecraft passed it’s closest approach distance to asteroid Donaldjohnson an asteroid on it’s way to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids https://t.co/0m2UMJTFks https://t.co/IvRai3tGhy
— Meg Schwamb (@megschwamb) April 20, 2025
NASA’s Lucy mission is managed by its Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, involving extensive collaboration across multiple institutions. The mission aims to gain new insights into the early history of the solar system through its advanced instruments and strategic flybys of ancient asteroids.
NASA LUCY MISSION FIRST PICS OF ASTEROID #DONALDJOHANSON
Asteroid Donaldjohanson turns out to be a "contact binary": the result of the joining of two smaller bodies following a collision.
Congrats to @NASA & Lucy Team!https://t.co/4sruonmS8g@SETIInstitute @KeplerUni @NSS pic.twitter.com/2HCQnKW5ir
— Pascal Lee (@pascalleetweets) April 22, 2025
Noah Nguyen is a multi-talented developer who brings a unique perspective to his craft. Initially a creative writing professor, he turned to Dev work for the ability to work remotely. He now lives in Seattle, spending time hiking and drinking craft beer with his fiancee.
