Hayabusa 2 sample lands on Earth on December 6

The Japanese Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is almost back home, with precious cargo on board! The sample return mission left asteroid Ryugu (162173 Ryugu) just over a year ago, with soil samples and data that could provide clues to the early days of our solar system. On December 6, 2020, the sample return container is expected to land in the Australian outback.

“Organic materials are the source of life on Earth, but we still don’t know where they came from,” Makoto Yoshikawa, mission manager for the Hayabusa 2 project, told a press briefing. “We hope to find clues to the origin of life on Earth by analyzing the details of organic material reported by Hayabusa 2.”

JAXA, the Japanese space agency, said the capsule containing the samples is expected to land in Australia’s Woomera Prohibited Zone, a restricted military test site of about 122,000 square kilometers, located about 450 km northwest of ‘Adelaide. JAXA’s YouTube will live stream the event.

On November 25, the Hayabusa 2 team received clearance from Australia to enter re-entry orbit. They performed a course correction maneuver on November 26 to place the spacecraft in the correct entry lane.

The spacecraft will release the capsule containing the samples at a distance of approximately 220,000 km (136,700 miles) from Earth. The capsule is quite small, only about 40 cm (15 inches) in diameter. A heat shield will protect the capsule during its flaming dive into our atmosphere. When the capsule reaches an altitude of about six miles above the ground, a parachute will open to allow for a smooth landing, hopefully. A beacon will activate to transmit the location of the capsule, and several receivers have been installed around the target area to pick up these signals. Radar, drones and helicopters will be ready to help with search and recovery.

Without these measures, the search for the small capsule “would be extremely difficult,” Yoshikawa said.

Below is the chronology of events, as of 11/30/20. Japan Standard Time (JST) is UTC +9. If you live in Australia, here is information on how you might see the capsule fall off.

Hayabusa 2 launched in December 2014 and arrived in Ryugu in mid-2018. A German-built MASCOT lander collected samples from Ryugu in February and July 2019, storing each sample in separate chambers. The mission team said they believed at least 300 milligrams of material had been collected, and possibly more.

For the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, this is not the end of the mission. After dropping the capsule, it will head towards another small distant asteroid called 1998KY26, the journey is expected to take 10 years.

Additional information:
JAXA
Press documents from the briefing of 11/30/20
PhysOrg

Scientists will compare the chemical makeup of the samples with rocks from the Earth and the Moon, seeking to understand factors related to the origin of Earth, such as the role of asteroids in bringing water to Earth.

Meanwhile, the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will quickly overtake Earth and continue on a new mission. It will head to another small distant asteroid called 1998KY26 for a journey that will last 10 years.