The Japanese spacecraft is preparing to return to Earth with samples of the Ryugu asteroid

(MENAFN – Youm7) The Japanese probe Hayabusa 2 is preparing to return to Earth more than a month after landing on the surface of the Ryugu asteroid, after storing samples of the asteroid for study on earth.

According to the British Daily Mail, the first launch of the Japanese probe since last April, 185 million kilometers from the ground, was aimed at digging a hole and moving materials not exposed to the atmosphere, then fell for collect these samples by mid-July. .

The Ryugu asteroid

According to the Japan Space Agency (JAXA), the probe has successfully stored a sample of rocks, thus preparing it to return to the planet where its main mission has ended.

The Hayabusa probe was the first to successfully collect soil samples underground from an asteroid. Japan praised the success of the mission during a series of press conferences held earlier this summer.

"It was a huge success," said Takashi Kubota, a member of the Japan Space Agency's Hayabusa 2 project, at a news conference.

The mission hopes to collect raw materials under the surface of the asteroid, which can give a clear idea of ​​what was the solar system in its infancy, there are about 4.6 billion of them. years.

MENAFN2908201901320000ID1098942163