“Dinkinesh is the smallest of the main-belt asteroids studied up close and has the potential to provide valuable information about this type of object,” said study co-author and NEOWISE principal investigator. said Amy Mainser of the University of Arizona. “This population of main-belt asteroids overlaps in size with a population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. Studying Dinkinesh will help explain how these small main-belt asteroids form and how near-Earth asteroids It could give us some insight into where it came from.”
NASA’s Near Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor) will replace NEOWISE, with a target launch date of late 2027. Scanning the sky in infrared wavelengths to search for elusive asteroids and comets, the NEO Surveyor will utilize the same technology used to detect faint signals hidden in WISE observations to create a next-generation space telescope. You can also improve your abilities. Mainzer is the principal investigator on his NEO Surveyor.
Mission details
Lucy’s principal investigator, Hal Levison, is based in the Boulder, Colorado, office of the Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space of Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft. Lucy is her 13th mission in NASA’s Discovery program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Discovery Program for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.