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This infographic image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows an asteroid and an asteroid, Hayabusa2. The Japanese space explorer who will attempt to blow up a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from within approaching his destination after a trip of 3 and a half years. The unmanned man Hayabusa2 arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers from the Earth. (JAXA via AP) (Associated Press)
TOKYO – A Japanese space explorer arrived at an asteroid Wednesday after a three-and-a-half-year trip and now begins his real job of trying to blow a crater to collect samples to eventually bring back to Earth.
The unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 has reached its base of operations about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the asteroid and about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from the Earth, announced the l 39; Japanese Space Agency.
Over the next year and a half, the spacecraft will attempt three brief, fast landings to collect samples. If recovery and return are successful, the asteroid material could provide clues about the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.
The mission is difficult. The robotic explorer will spend about two months searching for suitable landing places on the uneven surface. Due to the high surface temperature, there will only be a few seconds each time it lands.
The asteroid named Ryugu after an underwater palace in a Japanese folk tale, is about 900 meters in diameter. In the photos published by JAXA, the Japanese space agency, it appears more cube-shaped than round. A number of big craters can be seen, which project director Yuichi Tsuda said in an online article, making the selection of landing points "both interesting and challenging".
The first landing is scheduled for September or October. Before the last scheduled landing in April-May, Hayabusa2 will send a stocky cylinder that will explode over the asteroid and launch a 2-kilogram (4.4-pound) copper projectile at high speed to form a crater.
Hayabusa2 will hide from the other side of the asteroid to protect himself during the operation and will wait another two to three weeks to make sure any debris that could damage the explorer has faded away. It will then attempt to land at or near the crater to collect underground material that has been expelled from the crater, in addition to the surface material from the first landings.
The spacecraft will also deploy three rovers that have no wheels but that can jump on the surface of the asteroid to conduct probes. Hayabusa2 will also send a Franco-German undercarriage to study the surface with four observation devices.
Asteroids, which revolve around the sun but are much smaller than the planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system. As such, they can help explain how the Earth has evolved, including ocean formation and the beginning of life.
Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014 and is expected to return to Earth by the end of 2020. An earlier Hayabusa mission from 2003 to 2010 collected samples of another type of asteroid and took three years longer. than expected after a series of technical problems, including a fuel leak and a loss of contact for seven weeks.
NASA also has an ongoing asteroid mission. His Osiris-Rex spacecraft is expected to reach the asteroid Bennu later this year and return with samples in 2023.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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