Ryugu and other asteroids of the common “C-class” consist of more porous material than was previously thought. Small fragments of their material are therefore too fragile to survive entry into the atmosphere in the event of a collision with Earth. This has revealed the long-suspected cause of the deficit of this meteorite type in finds on Earth. Researchers at the German…
Tag: hayabusa2
Hayabusa2 may have just snagged bits of asteroid Ryugu’s insides
In its second sampling attempt, Hayabusa2 became the first spacecraft to try to pick up some of an asteroid’s guts. Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hayabusa2-touchdown-asteroid-ryugu-second-sample-subsurface4…
Hayabusa2: the asteroid probe seeking solar system secrets
Japan’s Hayabusa2 space probe made its second touchdown on a distant asteroid on Thursday, in a bid to collect mineral samples that could reveal more about the solar system’s evolution. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-hayabusa2-asteroid-probe-solar-secrets.html…
Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe makes ‘perfect’ touchdown on asteroid
Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe made a “perfect” touchdown Thursday on a distant asteroid, collecting samples from beneath the surface in an unprecedented mission that could shed light on the origins of the solar system. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-japan-hayabusa2-probe-touchdown-asteroid.html…
Japan’s Hayabusa2 Probe Makes Second Touchdown On Distant Asteroid
Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe touched down on a distant asteroid on Thursday, the space agency said, on a mission to collect samples that could shed light on the history of the solar system. The Japan Times reports: “The control room received Doppler data showing that the probe appears to have touched down successfully,” Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency spokesman Takayuki Tomobe said. “But…
Japan’s asteroid probe Hayabusa2 set for final touchdown
Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe began descending on Wednesday for its final touchdown on a distant asteroid, hoping to collect samples that could shed light on the evolution of the solar system. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-japan-asteroid-probe-hayabusa2-touchdown.html…
Hayabusa2 drops target marker at asteroid Ryugu
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has made some impressive feats in recent years. Roughly one year ago, and following in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully rendezvoused with a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) called 162173 Ryugu. Since then, it has been collecting samples from the surface in the hopes of learning more about the formation and evolution of…
Pictures confirm Hayabusa2 made a crater in asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2’s crater-blasting success, confirmed by an image beamed back from the spacecraft, paves the way to grab subsurface asteroid dust. Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pictures-confirm-hayabusa2-crater-asteroid-ryugu4…
Earth vs. asteroids: humans strike back
Incoming asteroids have been scarring our home planet for billions of years. This month humankind left our own mark on an asteroid for the first time: Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped a copper projectile at very high speed in an attempt to form a crater on asteroid Ryugu. A much bigger asteroid impact is planned for the coming decade, involving an international…
Hayabusa2 at the asteroid Ryugu
Source: http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/364/6437/249-g?rss=1