News Excerpt:
Lucy spacecraft had unexpectedly discovered a moonlet orbiting Dinkinesh, an asteroid a few months back. Now that moonlet has been named “ SELAM”.
About the news:
- Selam is a contact binary meaning that it consists of two moonlets of almost equal size, resembling a pair.
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Dinkinesh, which is an Ethiopian name for the fossil nicknamed Lucy, after which the spacecraft is named.
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Lucy, the spacecraft discovered a moonlet in orbit around Dinkinesh, which has been named Selam, the Ethiopian name for a fossil considered to be Lucy's baby.
- The International Astronomical Union approved the name Selam, meaning 'peace' in Amharic, an Ethiopian language.
Lucy spacecraft:
- Lucy is the first space mission dedicated to investigating Jupiter Trojan asteroids, a diverse group of small bodies orbiting on stable paths associated with Jupiter.
- Over a 12-year mission, Lucy will explore a remarkable number of asteroids, including two in the asteroid belt and eight Trojans.
- The spacecraft will conduct three gravity-assist flybys of Earth, a unique maneuver to gain momentum from Earth's gravity, making Lucy the first spacecraft to return to Earth's vicinity from the outer solar system.
