Hayabusa2 | Common News Update

Jul112019 by adminNo Comments

Hayabusa-2: Japanese spacecraft makes final touchdown on asteroid

Science

A Japanese spacecraft has touched down on a faraway asteroid, where it will collect space rock that may hold clues to how the Solar System evolved. The successful contact with the Ryugu asteroid was met with relief and cheering in the control room at Japan's space agency, JAXA.It is the second touchdown for the robotic Hayabusa-2 craft, which grabbed rocks from the asteroid in February. After blasting a crater into Ryugu, it has returned to pick up fresh rubble.As the samples will come from within the asteroid, they will have had reduced exposure to the harsh environment of space.It's hoped the rock will give scientists more data on the origins of the Solar System. Hay...

Apr62019 by adminNo Comments

Hayabusa-2 bombs asteroid with copper cannonball

Science

April 5 (UPI) -- Last month, Hayabusa-2 shot a bullet at the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. This week, the Japanese spacecraft launched a copper cannonball at the distant asteroid. The probe's Twitter account, managed by scientists at JAXA, Japan's space agency, announced the bombing mission -- officially, the "Small Carry-on Impactor" operation -- a success on Friday morning. "This is the world's first collision experiment with an asteroid!" JAXA tweeted. "In the future, we will examine the crater formed and how the ejector dispersed." Hayabusa-2's camera successfully captured images of the bomb's impact and the resulting ejecta. "Hayabusa2 is operating normally," JAXA announced in an update. "We will be providing further information once we have confirmed whether a crater has been cre...

Apr42019 by adminNo Comments

Hayabusa-2: Japanese probe set to ‘bomb’ an asteroid

Science

The Japanese Hayabusa-2 spacecraft is about to detonate an explosive charge on the asteroid it is exploring.The operation is designed to generate an artificial crater in the asteroid Ryugu, which the probe has been studying since June 2018.Hayabusa-2 will later descend into the crater to collect pristine samples of the asteroid that have not been exposed to the harsh environment of space.The charge is carried on the Small Carry-On Impactor (SCI) device.This is a 14kg conical container attached to Hayabusa-2 and packed with plastic explosive.The SCI is due to separate from Hayabusa-2 at 01:56 GMT on Friday at an altitude of 500m above the surface of Ryugu. That will kick off a 40-minute countdown to detonation. When the device exp...

Sep222018 by adminNo Comments

Hayabusa-2: Japan's rovers send pictures from asteroid

Science

Japan's space agency (JAXA) has made history by successfully landing two robotic explorers on the surface of an asteroid.The two small "rovers", which were despatched from the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on Friday, will move around the 1km-wide space rock known as Ryugu.The asteroid's low gravity means they can hop across it, capturing temperatures and images of the surface."Both rovers are in good condition," the agency confirmed on Saturday. Skip Twitter post by @haya2e_jaxa We are sorry we have kept you waiting! MINERVA-II1 consists of two rovers, 1a & 1b. Both rovers are confirmed to have landed on the surface of Ryugu. They are in good condition and have transmitted photo...