The Asteroid NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Will Visit This Year Has a New Name

It’s a date.

Lucy is set to meet Dinkinesh on Nov. 1.

It’s also the Ethiopian name for Lucy, the famous human-ancestor fossil, found in Ethiopia in 1974.

That should make it less awkward for the spacecraft and staff involved.

No one wants to be spitting out “152830” repeatedly for the next several months.

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!

Lucy was already set to visit nine asteroids before adding Dinkinesh to its busy social schedule.

“Some of the team affectionately refer to it as ‘Dinky.’