NASA’s Lucy spacecraft beams back pictures of an asteroid shaped like a lumpy bowling pin

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has beamed back pictures from its latest asteroid flyby. NASA released the images on Monday, a day after the close encounter. The asteroid is bigger than scientists expected and is shaped like a lumpy bowling pin. Lucy came within 600 miles of the harmless asteroid on Sunday, in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was a dress rehearsal for the asteroid flybys still ahead. The spacecraft was launched in 2021 to study the unexplored so-called Trojan asteroids out near Jupiter. Eight Trojan flybys are planned through 2033.

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