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The projectile will disrupt the material coming from outside the Ryugu asteroid which will then float from its surface due to the weak gravitational field.
These particles will be collected by the probe and eventually returned to Earth, according to the Japanese space agency JAXA, which announced that the vessel Hayabusa 2 was to perform the delicate maneuver at 18 hours. AND Thursday.
JAXA scientists were expecting to find a powdery surface on Ryugu, but tests have shown that the asteroid is covered with larger gravel.
As a result, the team had to perform a simulation to see if the projectile would be able to disrupt enough material that could be collected by what scientists call a "horn sample" that protrudes from below the probe.
This video shows the success of a December 28 test that lit up the green asteroid landing.
The team is planning three samplings over the next few weeks.
Hayabusa 2 will leave Ryugu in December 2019 and return to Earth by the end of 2020 with his precious cargo of samples, which will be analyzed by scientists such as John Bridges, Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Leicester, at United Kingdom.
Bridges, who also participated in the first Hayabusa mission, told CNN by phone that Thursday's event would be "an incredible adventure" because of the extreme precision involved in landing at Ryugu.
"It's an important mission," Bridges said. "Examples of return missions are particularly exciting."
He told CNN that the Hayabusa 2 mission is interesting because Ryugu is a Class C asteroid that humans have never visited before.
"One thing I'm sure is that it will produce unexpected results," said Bridges, who believes that the information from Ryugu's samples could make us rethink the early evolution of the solar system.
Under their desolate surface, asteroids are thought to contain a wealth of information about the formation of the solar system billions of years ago.
Asteroids of type C, largely composed of carbon, constitute the most widespread variety of asteroids, representing more than 75% of those discovered to date. The other two main types of asteroids are the metal types S and M, according to NASA.
Ryugu should be "rich in water and organic materials", allowing scientists to "clarify the interactions between Earth's constituent elements and the evolution of its oceans and life, thus developing the science of the solar system" said JAXA.
If Ryugu manages to return to Earth in time, this will be the first mission to report samples of a class C asteroid.
JAXA scientists are currently racing against NASA for this historic achievement. The mission of the US agency of recovery of samples should return to Earth in 2023.
Reaching even the asteroid is a huge feat, as it equates to hitting a target of 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) at a distance of 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles).
"In other words, getting to Ryugu is the same as targeting a 6-centimeter Japanese target in Brazil," said JAXA.
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