NASA spacecraft discovers tiny moon around asteroid during close flyby

The little asteroid visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists _ a mini moon. The spacecraft made the discovery during Wednesday's close flyby of the asteroid Dinkinesh in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars. The asteroid is only a half-mile across while its moon is a mere one-tenth-of-a-mile in size. NASA sent Lucy past Dinkinesh as a rehearsal for the bigger, more mysterious asteroids out near Jupiter. Launched two years ago, the spacecraft will reach the first of these these so-called Trojan asteroids in 2027. Altogether, Lucy will swoop past 11 asteroids.