Hayabusa2 will create a crater in an asteroid tonight

The Japanese Hayabusa2 mission is orbiting the Ryugu asteroid since June 2018, but tonight is its most spectacular event. In a few hours, the spacecraft will drop off its cabin impactor, head for a safe hiding place, and then project a crater on the side of its asteroid house. So far, the spacecraft has been studying the rocky and altered surface of the asteroid, and researchers are now hoping to get a glimpse of Ryugu's interior.

Boom goes dynamite

Hayabusa2 will release its impactor at 11:13 am in Japan, or around 8:13 pm. EDT. tonight. Since Ryugu is a small asteroid of low gravity, the impactor will slowly drop and take about an hour to reach the surface. During the descent, Hayabysa2 will perform a side descent and drop a camera called DCAM3, which will be held in the space above the asteroid at a semi-safe distance. Then, Hayabusa2 will flip-flop and escape behind the asteroid to hide from the imminent explosion.

"This camera can take a picture at the moment of impact," says Makoto Yoshikawa, Hayabysa2 project lead. "We will try to get the picture the same day, but we may need some time to get all the pictures." He states that in a few days they should have images and even videos of the blast.

The impactor will detonate about 40 minutes later, probably when it is still at an altitude of 800 to 1,000 feet above the surface. This is not to cause the actual explosion on the surface of Ryugu, but to shoot a large ball into the ground. The explosion above the surface will project a copper disk into the ground at a speed of about 4,500 km / hour and hopefully will blow up the hole in the small asteroid.