Last month, Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission brought home a cache of rocks collected from a near-Earth asteroid called Ryugu. While analysis of those returned samples is just getting underway, researchers are using data from the spacecraft’s other instruments to reveal new details about the asteroid’s past. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-remote-asteroid-ryugu-lost.html…
Tag: hayabusa2
Samples from Ryugu Asteroid Revealed After Delivery to Earth
Mashable reports: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency showed off a collection of samples from the asteroid Ryugu on Thursday following the return of the Hayabusa2 probe. The black, gravelly samples from Ryugu contain a whole bunch of small chips collected from the asteroid’s subsurface… Normally, space rocks like these are collected after they enter Earth’s atmosphere at surface-scorching speeds. These samples…
Telescope photographs the next target asteroid for Hayabusa2
On December 10, 2020 (Hawai’i Standard Time), the Subaru Telescope imaged the small asteroid 1998 KY26, the target of Hayabusa2’s extended mission. The positional data for 1998 KY26 collected during the observations will be used to more accurately determine the orbital elements of this object. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-telescope-asteroid-hayabusa2.html…
World’s first gas sample from deep space confirmed
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has confirmed that the gas collected from the sample container inside the re-entry capsule of the asteroid explorer, Hayabusa2, is a gas sample originating from asteroid Ryugu. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-world-gas-sample-deep-space.html…
Japan’s space agency finds ample soil, gas from asteroid
Officials from Japan’s space agency said Tuesday they have found more than the anticipated amount of soil and gases inside a small capsule the country’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought back from a distant asteroid this month, a mission they praised as a milestone for planetary research. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-japan-space-agency-ample-soil.html…
Capsule with asteroid samples arrives in Japan for research
Japanese space agency officials were delighted Tuesday by the return of a small capsule containing asteroid soil samples obtained by their Hayabusa2 spacecraft and they are anxiously waiting to look inside after preparations are complete. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-capsule-asteroid-samples-japan.html…
Asteroid Ryugu dust delivered to Earth; NASA astrobiologists prepare to probe it
On Dec. 6 local time (Dec. 5 in the United States), Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 dropped a capsule to the ground of the Australian Outback from about 120 miles (or 200 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. Inside that capsule is some of the most precious cargo in the solar system: dust that the spacecraft collected earlier this year from the surface of asteroid…
What has Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission accomplished?
A small capsule from Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully landed in a sparsely populated desert in the Australian Outback on Sunday. After a preliminary inspection, it will be flown to Japan for research. The extremely high precision required to carry out the mission thrilled many in Japan, who said they took pride in its success. The project’s manager, Yuichi Tsuda of the…
Japan awaits capsule’s return with asteroid soil samples
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully released a small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the country’s space agency said. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-japan-awaits-capsule-asteroid-soil.html…
China’s Chang’e 5 mission is orbiting the moon!
China’s robotic Chang’e 5 will be the 1st sample-return from the moon since the 1970s. It launched successfully last week atop a Chinese Long March 5 rocket. Now it’s reported to have entered orbit around the moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/china-moon-mission-change-5-sample-return…