The latest pictures of Hayabusa2's mission on Ryugu asteroid

The solar system is an overcrowded place. The Earth is perhaps the only planet populated by humans, but many worlds harbor robots – rovers and landers and orbiters, collecting data for astronomers. The asteroid (162173) Ryugu joined them last summer and is hosting the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2. The mission has already gathered a lot of interesting data.

Now, according to a report Thursday in Science, we have some additional information about the diamond shaped Ryugu. The MASTER-Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) lander from Hayabusa2, which landed last October, took several photos along the way. An international team of scientists analyzed them to get new information about the ancient world, helping them understand its violent past and even learn a little about the ancient solar system.

According to one report, several photos were captured along the way. An international team of scientists analyzed them to get new information about the ancient world, helping them understand its violent past and even learn a little about the ancient solar system.

Rocky Landing

The descent from MASCOT to Ryugu was surprisingly disconcerting: Hayabusa2, already in orbit, simply dropped the landing gear and dropped it to the surface. The rugged device, packaged with a camera (named MASCam) and other instruments, will slowly collapse, dropping about 134 feet for about 6 minutes before landing with a sound deaf. He bounces again 56 feet before finally resting.

Everything was done on purpose. The German Aerospace Center designed MASCOT for the hard journey, and took pictures throughout the course. The landing gear also carried a rotating mass that could reorient and even move the small boat, allowing it to collect data from various locations. And thanks to the proven methods of flash photography, the machine can even take pictures in the dark. After more than 17 hours and some extra jumps, the piles of MASCOT went out and this part of the mission was over.