Peanut-Shaped Asteroid Reveals Its 150-Million-Year Origin

NASA's Lucy spacecraft photographed a two-lobed, peanut-shaped asteroid from about 600 miles away on April 20, 2025.

Crater counts date the asteroid to a smash-up roughly 150-155 million years ago, in the dinosaur era.

It tumbles end-over-end every 10.5 days while wobbling around its long axis — and once spun far faster.

Iron-rich clay minerals hint that liquid water briefly touched the rock in its distant past.

Donaldjohanson was a warm-up; Lucy's real targets are Jupiter's never-visited Trojan asteroids from 2027.