[ad_1]
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 briefly landed Thursday on an asteroid more than 200 million kilometers from Earth and fired a bullet to recover a rock sample, successfully completing one of the most difficult maneuvers of the mission before returning the asteroid specimen to scientists on the ground in December 2020.
The spacecraft spent a few moments on the surface of Ryugu before throwing propellers to get away from the asteroid. The Hayabusa 2 ground crew in Sagamihara, Japan, was celebrated as radio signals returned from the spacecraft indicated that the back and forth maneuver was proceeding smoothly, which delighted the engineers who had meticulously planned then redefined the landing of the probe.
"The hand of humanity has reached a new star today," said Yuichi Tsuda, project manager of Hayabusa 2 at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, through a translator. "JAXA has managed the operation (and) the hit of Hayabusa 2 at Ryugu and the collection of Ryugu samples."
Hayabusa 2 descended to Ryugu on Thursday at a glacial speed, reaching its expected altitude and speed before touching the surface at 2229 GMT (1729 EST). Nineteen minutes later, a signal change from Hayabusa 2 indicated that he had reached the surface and started his ascent, causing the applause of thoughtful scientists in the control room.
The probe's navigation system autonomously tracked the position of a target marker deployed on the surface of the asteroid, allowing Hayabusa 2 to fire with its control jets and guiding the craft towards a zone of narrow landing surrounded by dangerous rocks.
At a press conference a few hours later, JAXA mission officials confirmed that the probe had worked perfectly during the landing at the landing.
Telemetry from Hayabusa 2 showed an increase in temperature inside the compartment containing the tantalum projectile of 0.2 oz (5 grams) penetrating into the asteroid. The probe uses explosives to fire the bullet and mission officials said that the temperature rise indicated that the aircraft was operating as intended.
The projectile was supposed to fire when a sample of horn extending from Hayabusa 2 touched Ryugu's surface. The rock and powder blown by the impact of the projectile had to cross the sampling horn in one of the three chambers located inside the spacecraft's return capsule, which them will return to Earth in 2020.
"After confirming the data sent by Hayabusa 2, we were able to confirm that the Hayabusa 2 touchdown sequence, including the firing of the projectile to collect samples, had been implemented and that the status of Hayabusa 2 was normal, "Tsuda said at a press conference at the Sagamihara Control Center.
Officials planned to seal the chamber containing Thursday's landing samples, ensuring that the materials do not remain contaminated during the return to Earth.
Hayabusa 2 is Japan's second mission to collect samples of an asteroid for return to Earth.
The previous probe, Hayabusa, flew to the Itokawa asteroid, but only collected microscopic specimens after encountering numerous problems, including a malfunction of its own projectile firing system, a fuel leak and failures of the reaction wheel. Hayabusa, which means "peregrine falcon" in Japanese, has returned the small asteroid material he collected on Earth in June 2010.
Ryugu has the shape of a top, with an average diameter of almost 3000 feet (900 meters). Its gravity field is thousands of times weaker than Earth's, allowing Hayabusa 2 to bypass the asteroid with minimal fuel.
Scientists classify Ryugu as a type C asteroid, which means that it is rich in carbon, the basic element of organic molecules. The researchers are eager to get immaculate samples of the asteroid to analyze in the laboratory and look for clues about the origin of water and life on Earth.
Named in the honor of a dragon palace in a famous Japanese fairy tale, the Ryugu asteroid performs a sun tour every 1.3 years. His ride briefly brings him into Earth's orbit, making Ryugu a potentially dangerous asteroid.
While Hayabusa 2 is exploring Ryugu, NASA's OSIRIS-REx space probe is monitoring another asteroid – Bennu – before its own sampling attempt next year. Like Ryugu, Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid that regularly crosses Earth's orbit.
OSIRIS-REx will yield at least 60 grams, or 2.1 ounces of Bennu's samples in 2023, while Hayabusa 2 could return to Earth with at least 100 milligrams of asteroid material. Scientists hope that both missions will return with much more.
Tsuda said the engineers were not immediately sure of the volume of Hayabusa 2 samples collected on Thursday. Officials are convinced that the projectile has worked as expected and Tsuda said that he was expecting much more specifically that Hayabusa 2 captured a "decent amount of sample".
The Hayabusa 2 and OSIRIS-REx missions teams are collaborating as part of their asteroid exploration efforts. JAXA and NASA have agreed to share samples of asteroids brought to Earth by Hayabusa 2 and OSIRIS-REx, and three US scientists from the OSIRIS-REx team are named co-investigators of the Japanese mission. In return, three Japanese researchers officially joined the OSIRIS-REx team.
Hayabusa 2 was launched on a Japanese H-2A rocket on December 3, 2014 and powered to its asteroid target with the help of ion engines, before arriving in nearby Ryugu in last June.
The spacecraft dropped a pair of Japanese robots on Ryugu's surface in September, then launched a European scout to land on the asteroid in October. The miniature undercarriages became the first mobile vehicles to explore the surface of an asteroid. The three robots returned images and scientific data.
Mission officials were hoping to take the first sample with Hayabusa 2 at the end of October, but officials postponed the raid to further analysis and additional investigations after the machine discovered that the asteroid was over. rocky and more rugged than expected. Officials decided to deploy a target marker at their preferred landing site for Hayabusa 2's first sampling attempt to help the spacecraft navigate a narrow corridor to safely reach a location free of rocks, which could have endangered the mission.
"Ryugu turned out to be more difficult than expected, so we decided to deploy all kinds of available technologies," Tsuda said.
Hayabusa 2 could try to collect two more samples at other locations in Ryugu before leaving the asteroid in November or December. The Space Shuttle must begin its journey back to Earth by the end of the year to return home in December 2020, when Hayabusa 2 will launch a sample rack to reintegrate the atmosphere and perform a parachute until landing in Australia.
Tsuda aims to complete Hayabusa 2's critical operations on the asteroid by June or July, when Ryugu prepares to approach the sun in a 1.3 year orbit.
During one of the sampling maneuvers, Hayabusa 2 will fire a copper plate – 400 times more massive than the tantalizing bullet used on Thursday – to cut a crater on the asteroid, allowing the spacecraft to catch material under the surface of Ryugu. The underground sample could be valuable to scientists because the material has not been exposed to particles and radiation bombarding the surface of the asteroid.
"We need to determine what to do about the two touchdowns that are still scheduled," Tsuda said.
"At the present time, we can not establish a timetable," said Tsuda. "We do not want to be inactive for a month. This is not our plan. The state of the (spacecraft) is such that it is at its best. Maybe every two or three weeks we want to conduct critical operations. "
Takanao Saiki, project engineer and flight director for Hayabusa 2, said the publication of the copper impactor intended to create a crater on Ryugu would be one of the highlights of the mission.
"As big as the touchdown operation, and it's pretty risky," Saiki said Thursday. "Honestly, the impactor is really a challenge, but all members of the team have used the brains in the touchdown until today … We would like to celebrate success today. but from tomorrow we would like to start preparing for (the impactor). "
"This has sped up our momentum, but we must remain cautious," said Saiki.
Email of the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @ StephenClark1.
[ad_2]
Source link