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This computer image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows the Asteroid Surface Scout mobile, or MASCOT, located on the asteroid Ryugu. The unmanned Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 dropped the French-German MASCOT observation device on Wednesday, October 3, 2018 to land on the asteroid as part of a search effort to find clues on the origin of the solar system. (JAXA via AP)
A Japanese probe landed a new observation robot on an asteroid Wednesday as it pursues a mission to shed light on the origins of the solar system.
The French-German Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout satellite, or MASCOT, launched from the Hayabusa2 probe, landed safely on Ryugu and was in contact with his team, announced the official Twitter account of Ryugu.
"And then I found myself in a place like nowhere else on Earth – a country full of wonder, mystery and danger!" Tweeted the account @ MASCOT2018.
"I landed on the asteroid Ryugu!"
MASCOT should collect a wide range of data on the asteroid, about 300 million kilometers from the Earth.
"It is extremely important to take data on the surface of an asteroid.We are expecting a lot of scientific data," said Hayabusa2 mission director, Makoto Yoshikawa, of JAXA (Japanese Agency for Exploration aerospace).
The box-shaped MASCOT of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) is loaded with sensors. It can take images at several wavelengths, study minerals with a microscope, measure surface temperatures and measure magnetic fields.
The MASCOT launch comes 10 days after the Hayabusa2 dropped a pair of MINERVA-II micro-rovers on the Ryugu asteroid.
It was the first time that moving robotic observation devices landed successfully on an asteroid.
The shadow of Hayabusa2 seen on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu that she studies
Origin of the solar system
The rovers will take advantage of Ryugu's low gravity to jump to the surface, traveling a distance of up to 15 meters and staying above the surface for up to 15 minutes, to examine the physical characteristics of the rovers. Asteroid using cameras and sensors.
Unlike these machines, MASCOT will be largely immobile: it will only "jump" once in its mission and it will be able to turn around.
And while the rovers will spend several months on the asteroid, the MASCOT has a maximum autonomy of 16 hours and will transmit the data it collects at Hayabusa2 before running out of juice.
The Hayabusa2 is expected to deploy an "impactor" over the asteroid later this month, throwing a two kilogram copper object inside to project a small crater to the surface.
The probe will then hover over the artificial crater and collect samples with the help of an extended arm.
The launch of MASCOT comes 10 days after the Hayabusa2 dropped a pair of MINERVA-II micro-rovers on the Ryugu asteroid, a world first.
Samples of "fresh" materials, not exposed to millennial winds and radiation, could help answer fundamental questions about life and the universe, especially about whether elements of the "cool" or "cool" materials can be found. space have helped bring life to life on Earth.
Part of MASCOT's mission is to collect data that will help determine where the crater is to be created.
Hayabusa2, the size of a large refrigerator and equipped with solar panels, is the successor to the first JAXA Asteroid Explorer, Hayabusa – Japanese for Falcon.
This probe came back from a small potato-shaped asteroid in 2010 with dust samples despite various setbacks during an epic seven-year odyssey and was hailed as a scientific triumph.
The Hayabusa2 mission, which costs about 30 billion yen ($ 260 million), was launched in December 2014 and will return to Earth with its samples in 2020.
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