The little asteroid visited by Nasa’s Lucy spacecraft this week had a big surprise for scientists. It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinesh has a sidekick — a mini moon.

Nasa’s Lucy spacecraft on Wednesday encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its long journey to Jupiter. The spacecraft on Wednesday swooped past the pint-sized Dinkinesh, about 300 million miles away in the main asteroid belt beyond Mars.

Lucy, the world’s most famous early human ancestor, had knee joints that allowed her to walk fully upright as well as strong leg and pelvic muscles suited to living in trees, research suggests.

Nasa is debating whether to try to fix a jammed solar panel on its newly launched Lucy spacecraft, en route to explore an unprecedented number of asteroids.