NASA's Lucy probe will fly by asteroid 'Dinkinesh' on Nov. 1. Here's what to expect

An illustration of the Lucy spacecraft and an asteroid against a bluish, starry snippet of space.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is about to make its very first flyby of an asteroid on Wednesday, Nov. 1. 

When Lucy flies past the half-mile-wide asteroid, named Dinkinesh, the moment will mark the start of the probe's 12-lear-long tour of 10 asteroid subjects. Ultimately, the planned legacy of this  spacecraft is for it to become the first to investigate the Trojan asteroids  —  asteroids that follow Jupiter’s orbit around the sun and are believed to be remnants of our solar system's formation.