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Hayabusa 2 broke this image of his own shadow during a touchdown repetition.
JAXA
The JAXA Hayabusa 2 mission plans to do a puzzle feat of hitting an asteroid, taking a sample of the surface and bringing it back to Earth at the end of 2020. But there is a small problem in the plans.
On Sunday, JAXA announced that it was postponing the Ryugu landing from late October to January 2019.
"As we discovered on arriving at the asteroid, the surface of Ryugu is covered with many rocks without large flat areas," JAXA said.
Hayabusa 2 needs a free zone of high rocks in order to be able to get close enough to the surface to collect a sample. The rocky landscape presents a risk for the probe if a block hits the body or the solar panels.
The JAXA has found a potential landing point, but it is much narrower than expected.
The probe repeats its feel and tests whether the navigation system can guide it accurately to take a sample very closely.
A rehearsal of touchdown Monday was held as planned. The spacecraft captured an awesome image of its own shadow on the asteroid at the approach. Hayabusa 2 was located within 22.3 meters of Ryugu during the test.
Hayabusa 2 has already deployed two rovers and one LG to investigate the surface of Ryugu.
JAXA stated that it had enough flexibility in the Hayabusa 2 mission program to take into account the time to touch.
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