A new study using data from NASA’s Lucy mission reveals that the asteroid Dinkinesh’s tiny moon “Selam” was built from multiple low-speed collisions between small moonlets, making it the first confirmed “contact binary” moon. Scientists now believe Selam formed not from two, but at least four separate bodies, offering fresh insight into how asteroid moons form and evolve.
In her engaging TEDxVitosha presentation, Dr. Rosita Kokotanekova, Planetary Science Discipline Scientist at ISSI, poses a compelling question: Could we catch a comet before it hits Earth? She frames this not as science fiction, but as a bold, plausible scientific mission with transformative potential.
