The Hayabusa 2 probe successfully bombardes the Ryugu asteroid

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Today is a great day for mankind. We bombed an asteroid, finally taking our revenge on what the asteroids did to the dinosaurs. There is also a valid scientific reason. The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 is collecting materials from the Ryugu asteroid and blasting it with a massive kinetic projectile is a good way to expose them from the depths of the surface.

Japan's JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) launched the spacecraft in 2014, which took more than two years to reach Ryugu more than 300 million kilometers from Earth. After being found in space, Hayabusa 2 began mapping the surface of Ryugu to develop a plan of attack.

Hayabusa 2 has a sampling arm designed to gently touch the surface of Ryugu. To introduce material into the sampling arm, the probe carries a few 5 grams tantalum slugs that it can pull at high speed. Earlier this year, Hayabusa 2 successfully fired one of his two bullets to help him recover some fragments of the asteroid.

The JAXA confirms that Hayabusa 2 has now dropped the bomb on Ryugu – the bomb, in this case, is a small luggage impactor of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms). The SCI is in fact an autonomous launch platform with a shaped HMX explosive charge that propels the impactor at 2 km / s. Hayabusa 2 deployed the ICS and then moved to a safe place on the other side of the asteroid before the JAXA launched the ICS to the surface. The footage from the probe confirms that SCI struck Ryugu, throwing material into space.

[SCI] The deployable camera, DCAM3, successfully photographed the collision ejector between the SCI and the Ryugu surface. This is the world's first crash experience with an asteroid! In the future, we will examine the crater formed and the manner in which the ejector has dispersed. pic.twitter.com/eLm6ztM4VX

– HAYABUSA2 @ JAXA (@ haya2e_jaxa) April 5, 2019

Hayabusa 2 will wait a bit before returning to the place of impact, but the JAXA hopes to find a crater several meters away. The crater floor should have a virgin asteroid regolith that has not been bombarded with radiation for millions of dollars. It is as close as possible to obtain a sample of the first solar system. Hayabusa 2 will eventually descend to the surface to collect a sample of the crater. It also carries another small tantalum ball to extract another surface sample.

Hayabusa 2 does not collect Ryugu pieces to keep them in space. The probe has a sample return container that JAXA plans to launch on Earth in the coming months. It could contain up to 100 milligrams of asteroid when it arrives here at the end of 2020.

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