Japan successfully lays robots on the surface of an asteroid

The Japanese space agency JAXA said it made history on Saturday by landing two unmanned landing gear on an asteroid.

"The two rovers are in good condition and are transmitting images and data," said a JAXA statement after the separation of the spacecraft's spacecraft Hayabusa2 and their landing on the Ryugu asteroid.

The rovers are collectively known as MINERVA-II1. The space agency said MINERVA-II1 is the world's first mobile exploration robot to land on the surface of an asteroid.

"I felt impressed by what we had accomplished in Japan. This is only a real charm of deep space exploration, "said Takashi Kubota, spokesman for the space agency.

The Hayabusa2 began its approach from Ryugu at an altitude of about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) Thursday afternoon.

As the craft approached within 100 meters (328 feet) of the space rock, he returned a picture of Hayabusa's shadow projected onto its sterile surface.

Under their desolate surfaces, it is thought that asteroids contain a wealth of information about the formation of the solar system billions of years ago.

The one-kilometer diamond-shaped rock should be "rich in water and organic matter," allowing scientists to "clarify the interactions between building blocks and the evolution of their oceans and their life. solar system science, "said JAXA in a statement.

A series of specially designed cameras – four on the first mobile and three on the second – will take stereo images of the asteroid's surface. The rovers are also equipped with temperature gauges and optical sensors as well as an accelerometer and a set of gyroscopes.

A third rover called MASCOT will be launched from Hayabusa2 in early October.

Later in the mission, scheduled for the end of October, the spacecraft will land on the asteroid after blowing a small crater with explosives so that samples that have not been exposed can to be collected under the surface of the object.

After examining the distant object and taking samples, Hayabusa2 will leave Ryugu in December 2019 before returning to Earth by the end of 2020 with his cargo of samples.

If successful, JAXA said it will be the world's first sample return mission on a C-type asteroid.

Japanese scientists are racing with NASA for this achievement, the US agency's sample retrieval mission to arrive on Earth in 2023.