NASA's Lucy spacecraft successfully completed a flyby of asteroid Donaldjohanson, revealing its double-lobed, contact binary structure resembling nested ice cream cones. The flyby, at a distance of 600 miles, confirmed the asteroid's size (approximately 5 miles long and 2 miles wide) and provided high-quality images. This encounter, following a previous flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh, serves as a prelude to Lucy's main objective: studying Jupiter Trojan asteroids starting in 2027. The mission's success highlights the spacecraft's advanced instruments and promises significant insights into the solar system's formation.

Prepared by Olivia Bennett and reviewed by editorial team.