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This image was taken just 4 seconds after touch, proving that the projectile from the spacecraft had projected materials to the surface.
JAXA
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 has successfully landed on the Ryugu asteroid for the second time, throwing a projectile at the surface and hopefully bringing materials into a collector that will return to Earth.
Today, Thursday, July 11 at 10:06 am local time in Japan, the probe briefly touched the surface of the asteroid with the help of a long sampling arm. from one meter. The images then showed swirling material around the arm, indicating that the projectile had been fired into the surface.
At a press conference following the landing at Mission Control in Sagamihara, Takashi Kubota – the director of research for the mission – said that the landing had been "more than perfect" . Yuichi Tsuda, project manager, described the landing as "1,000 points out of 100", noted the Japan Times.
The landing was entirely autonomous, as the mission's operations team did not learn that the landing had been successful after the spacecraft data had lifted the Earth 290 million kilometers. It took about a day for the spacecraft to steadily lower itself to the asteroid, but the landing itself only lasted a few minutes after a brief, planned wait at an altitude of 30 meters above sea level. area.
"According to the data sent by Hayabusa2, it was confirmed that the handshake sequence, including the unloading of a projectile for sampling, had been completed successfully," said the spokesman. Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) in a brief statement. "Hayabusa2 is functioning normally and the second touchdown has been successful."
The control of the mission is celebrated after the confirmation of the landing.
JAXA / YouTube
The spacecraft is now returning to its original position, about 20 kilometers above the asteroid, which it should reach in the night. The spacecraft will continue to send data from the landing to the Earth, including other imagery that can give a clear indication of the amount of material projected into the spacecraft's collector.
Hayabusa-2 has no way of knowing if collecting materials from the surface has been successful. It has three rooms to collect the material, although only two were used for the mission. It is thought that one, Room B, contains elements of the first landing in February 2019. Room C, meanwhile, was used for this landing.
However, it will not be until the return of the space shuttle to Earth that scientists will know for sure if the probe has collected materials. If this were the case, it is hoped that up to 0.1 gram is on board, a small amount but sufficient to obtain essential information on the asteroid.
The first landing site of Hayabusa-2 was on the surface of the asteroid, collecting materials that had been blown by the sun's radiation and cosmic rays since the dawn of the solar system there are 4.5 billion years. But on this landing, the JAXA had already fired an impact into the asteroid's surface in April 2019, thus forming a small crater.
The spacecraft landed in an area just above the crater, where it is believed virgin material that were previously hidden underground had been vomited to the surface. If Hayabusa-2 successfully recovered materials from this area, it could give us a fascinating look at intact materials prior to the formation of the Earth, which could also inform us about the origins of water – and even of life – on Earth.
"We have gathered some of the history of the solar system," Yuichi Tsuda, JAXA Project Manager, told the press conference. "We have never collected materials beneath the surface of a celestial body farther away than the moon."
Hayabusa-2 will remain on the Ryugu asteroid until the end of 2019. Then he will leave for his return trip to Earth. It will arrive at the end of 2020 and will deploy a capsule containing the surface of the two samples. These will be collected at the landing site in Australia to be studied by enthusiastic scientists from around the world.
Today's landing is the second landing mission for a Japan, after Hayabusa-2's predecessor, Hayabusa-1, landed on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa in 2005, returning a small sample of 0.001 g on Earth in 2010.
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This image was taken just 4 seconds after touch, proving that the projectile from the spacecraft had projected materials to the surface.
JAXA
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 has successfully landed on the Ryugu asteroid for the second time, throwing a projectile at the surface and hopefully bringing materials into a collector that will return to Earth.
Today, Thursday, July 11 at 10:06 am local time in Japan, the probe briefly touched the surface of the asteroid with the help of a long sampling arm. from one meter. The images then showed swirling material around the arm, indicating that the projectile had been fired into the surface.
At a press conference following the landing at Mission Control in Sagamihara, Takashi Kubota – the director of research for the mission – said that the landing had been "more than perfect" . The project director, Yuichi Tsuda, called the landing "1,000 points out of 100," the Japan Times noted.
The landing was entirely autonomous, as the mission's operations team did not learn that the landing had been successful after the spacecraft data had lifted the Earth 290 million kilometers. It took about a day for the spacecraft to steadily lower itself to the asteroid, but the landing itself only lasted a few minutes after a brief, planned wait at an altitude of 30 meters above sea level. area.
"According to the data sent by Hayabusa2, it was confirmed that the handshake sequence, including the unloading of a projectile for sampling, had been completed successfully," said the spokesman. Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) in a brief statement. "Hayabusa2 is functioning normally and the second touchdown has been successful."
The control of the mission is celebrated after the confirmation of the landing.
JAXA / YouTube
The spacecraft is now returning to its original position, about 20 kilometers above the asteroid, which it should reach in the night. The spacecraft will continue to send data from the landing to the Earth, including other imagery that can give a clear indication of the amount of material projected into the spacecraft's collector.
Hayabusa-2 has no way of knowing if collecting materials from the surface has been successful. It has three rooms to collect the material, although only two were used for the mission. One of them, room B, would have materials since the first landing of February 2019. Room C, meanwhile, was used for this landing.
However, it will not be until the Space Shuttle returns to Earth that scientists will know for sure if the probe has collected materials successfully. If this were the case, it is hoped that up to 0.1 gram is on board, a small amount but sufficient to obtain essential information on the asteroid.
The first landing site of Hayabusa-2 was on the surface of the asteroid, collecting materials that had been blown by the sun's radiation and cosmic rays since the dawn of the solar system there are 4.5 billion years. But on this landing, the JAXA had already fired an impact into the asteroid's surface in April 2019, thus forming a small crater.
The spacecraft landed in an area just above the crater, where immaculate materials hitherto hidden underground had been scattered to the surface. If Hayabusa-2 successfully recovered materials from this area, it could give us a fascinating look at intact materials prior to the formation of the Earth, which could also inform us about the origins of water – and even of life – on Earth.
"We have gathered some of the history of the solar system," Yuichi Tsuda, JAXA Project Manager, told the press conference. "We have never collected materials beneath the surface of a celestial body farther away than the moon."
Hayabusa-2 will remain on the Ryugu asteroid until the end of 2019. Then he will leave for his return trip to Earth. It will arrive at the end of 2020 and will deploy a capsule containing the surface of the two samples. These will be collected at the landing site in Australia to be studied by enthusiastic scientists from around the world.
Today's landing is Japan's second landing mission, after Hayabusa-1's predecessor, Hayabusa-1, on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa in 2005, returning a small sample of 0.001 to Earth. gram in 2010.