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A Japanese spacecraft began its approach Thursday to a distant asteroid as part of a collection mission of materials likely to provide clues about the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.
The Hayabusa2 descent has been delayed by about five hours for a security check, but the unmanned vessel is still scheduled to land on Friday morning, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced.
During touch, which will only last a few seconds, Hayabusa2 will lengthen a pipe and drop a pinball shaped ball into the asteroid to explode materials beneath the surface. If all goes well, the machine will then collect samples that will eventually be sent back to Earth. Friday's attempt is the first of three planned touchdowns of this type.
The brief landing will be difficult, because of the uneven surface and covered with blocks. Hayabusa2 aims a circle of 6 meters in diameter to avoid obstacles. The space agency controllers will direct its approach until it is 500 meters above the surface of the asteroid, after which it will be autonomous, because it takes 20 minutes to control the Earth for reach the craft.
The JAXA, as the Japanese Space Agency calls it, compared the landing in the circle to the landing on a baseball mound from its height of 20 kilometers above sea level. 39; asteroid.
The asteroid, named Ryugu after an underwater palace in a Japanese tale, measures about 900 meters in diameter and 280 million kilometers from the Earth.
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Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 lands on an asteroid on 22 February
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