Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science Astronomy

Japan just landed a shuttle on an asteroid

It's a remarkable achievement.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
July 12, 2019
in Astronomy, News, Science

A Japanese spacecraft has successfully landed on an asteroid. It’s only the second time in history that such a feat has been achieved, the previous success also belonging to the Japanese space agency. Now, the fridge-sized Hayabusa-2 probe is expected to extract samples from the asteroid and bring them back for research.

A closer look at Ryugu. Image credits: JAXA.

The atmosphere was tense at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa). Members were observing the landing from a control room when they hear

“The touchdown is successful,” Jaxa spokesman Takayuki Tomobe said, prompting hugs, hurrays, and plenty of “V” victory signs.

ADVERTISEMENT

The probe first reached the Ryugu asteroid in June 2018, carrying out observations and measurements for months. Because there is virtually no friction in space, the surface of the asteroid isn’t smooth — it’s very rough, and landing on it requires precise calculations.

In April, Hayabusa shot the asteroid with a copper plate projectile, in order to loosen the rocks and expose the material under the surface, making it easier to harvest valuable samples. Last night, the probe Hayabusa-2 latched onto Ryugu, landing in the designated area successfully. The photos are simply stunning.

The photos are also a mythical reference, as Ryugu translates to “Dragon Palace” in Japanese and refers to a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale. In the story, the fisherman Urashima Tarō travels to the palace on the back of a turtle and returns with a mysterious box — an analogy to how Hayabusa will return with samples from the asteroid. Image credits: Jaxa.

“First photo was taken at 10:06:32 JST (on-board time) and you can see the gravel flying upwards. Second shot was at 10:08:53 where the darker region near the centre is due to touchdown,” JAXA tweeted.

The moment of touchdown. Image credits: JAXA.

“These images were taken before and after touchdown by the small monitor camera (CAM-H). The first is 4 seconds before touchdown, the second is at touchdown itself and the third is 4 seconds after touchdown. In the third image, you can see the amount of rocks that rise,” JAXA tweeted.

This is the second touchdown on the asteroid, after earlier this year, two small rovers landed on the Ryugu asteroid. The Hayabusa2 mission includes four rovers with various scientific instruments.

ADVERTISEMENT
Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

After it touched down, Hayabusa-2 collected a new set of samples and left Ryugu’s surface. If everything goes according to plan (and so far, it has) it will begin the 5.5 million-mile (9 million-kilometer) journey home towards the end of this year.

Subsurface material (such as the one blasted by Hayabusa) is particularly intriguing for scientists, because it has been protected from the harsh effects of cosmic rays and solar wind. By better studying and understanding these asteroids, researchers want to shed more light on the evolution of the solar system

Tags: asteroidHayabusajaxaRyugu
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.