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A photo of the Ryugu asteroid that was discovered in 1999. The asteroid is the main focus of the Hayabusa2 mission of the Japanese space agency. After its launch in 2014, the spacecraft began its 18-month-long stay in space to bring back samples to Earth to better understand the formation of the solar system.
( Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency )
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 encountered the Ryugu diamond-shaped asteroid after being launched from the Tanegashima spaceport in 2014 and making a 3.5-year trip.
The spacecraft began an 18-month stay at the first asteroid of its kind – sting and detonate a crater in the rock surface of the target asteroid and collect samples to be brought back to Earth. The samples will arrive on the planet towards the end of 2020.
Asteroid & # 39; Firefly Stone & # 39;
The spacecraft fired its thrusters in the morning of June 27 at 9:35 am Japan time or 20:45. June 26, EDT, bearing the probe at a constant distance of about 20 kilometers or 12 miles from the asteroid.
"The status of Hayabusa2 is normal," JAXA reported in a statement. "From this point, we plan to conduct exploratory activities near the asteroid, including the scientific observation of the Ryugu asteroid and the observation of the asteroid. for the collection of samples. "
The Ryugu asteroid was discovered in 1999 as a submarine dragon palace, a popular element in the Japanese folk tale.
24 photos revealed the actual shape of the asteroid – a square body with similarities to the shape of the firefly, another popular feature of Japanese culture. Even its spin is longer than similar asteroids, it revolves around 7.5 hours compared to other C-type asteroids, which usually shoot about three hours
Perspectives for the Japanese Probe
Team Hayabusa2 should now select the best location for the In a previous statement, Hayabasu2's project manager, Yuichi Tsuda, described Ryugu's form of "scientifically surprising" and posed a number of technical challenges. The craters and rocks are now visible while the geographical features seem to vary from one place to another, he said.
Probe samples should offer scientists a more accurate insight into real-world conditions when the solar system was formed billions of years ago. since. Hayabusa2 will go further than the previous Hayabusa mission, which brought back dust from the surface of the Itokawa asteroid in 2010.
By September or October, the probe is expected to make its first "operation of touch "on the rock space, this time, he seeks to deploy some small rovers. It will then sleep from November to December because the sun will largely block communications from the region to the Earth and vice versa.
By 2019, Hayabusa2 should start coming back to the planet, then eject a capsule that contains the samples.
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