[ad_1]
A Japanese spacecraft that successfully “bombed” an asteroid after traveling more than 3 billion kilometers in space is about to return to Earth.
Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 is expected to drop at least 100 milligrams from near-Earth asteroid Ryugu in Woomera, Australia on December 6. After that, he will continue his journey to visit additional asteroid targets.
“We are now on a landing path for Earth,” said Yuichi Tsuda, head of the Hayabusa2 project on Friday. “The altitude will now gradually decrease towards Woomera. Fasten your seat belt firmly and if you are traveling with small children please help them. The landing approach direction should be 1-5-0.”
JAXA scientists believe that the samples, especially those taken from beneath the Ryugu surface, contain valuable data unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors.
The carbon-rich asteroid Ryugu, 900 meters (3,000 feet) wide, photographed by the Japanese probe Hayabusa2 in June 2018.
(JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, Aizu University, AIST)
In February 2019, Hayabusa2 briefly hit Ryugu and fired a scientific research “bullet” into the space rock, collecting samples.
A few months later, in April, the craft dropped a small explosive box that sent a baseball-sized copper ball slamming into the asteroid, eventually collecting samples. The samples were collected in July 2019 and are believed to contain traces of carbon and organic matter in the asteroid soil samples.
The asteroid may provide answers to the origin of our solar system, according to NASA.
Makoto Yoshikawa, head of the Hayabusa2 project mission, said scientists were particularly interested in analyzing organic matter in Ryugu soil samples.
“Organic matter is the source of life on Earth, but we still don’t know (asterisk) where it came from,” Yoshikawa said. “We hope to find clues to the origin of life on Earth by analyzing the details of the organic material reported by Hayabusa2.”
Hayabusa2, which began its journey back to Earth in August 2019, will drop off the precious cargo and then continue its journey. He will then fly over asteroid (98943) 2001 CC21 in July 2026 and a rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26 in July 2031.
The craft, which is operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is believed to have captured at least 100 milligrams of Ryugu, drop the sample, and continue on t
Launched on December 3, 2014, Hayabusa2 arrived in Ryugu on June 27, 2018, when the asteroid was nearly 170 million kilometers from Earth. His return trip to Earth was shorter due to the current locations of Ryugu and Earth.
The asteroid, which is approximately 180 million miles from Earth, is named Ryugu (“Dragon Palace” in Japanese) after an underwater palace in a Japanese folk tale.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Associated Press and James Rogers of Fox News contributed to this story.
[ad_2]
Source link