Touchdown! Incredible Photos Show 2nd Asteroid Landing by Japan's Hayabusa2

[Judi Lynn]

By Meghan Bartels 11 hours ago



A camera located next to the sampling horn on Hayabusa2 captured this image 4 seconds after the spacecraft touched down on July 10, 2019.(Image: © JAXA)


The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 made a carefully choreographed second touchdown on an asteroid called Ryugu last night (July 10) — and the photos are incredible.

The images beamed back to Earth show the perspective of two different cameras on board the spacecraft: the main navigation camera and a publicly funded camera pointed past the sampling mechanism.

Photos from the first camera show views of Ryugu's surface at touchdown; the second shows the nearby rock before and after the sampling itself.

Mission staff spent hours carefully lowering the Hayabusa2 spacecraft before it spotted the bright, white target marker it had dropped in preparation for the maneuver. Then, the scientists held their breath and waited as the touchdown itself played out.

More:
https://www.space.com/incredible-asteroid-ryugu-landing-photos-japan-hayabusa2.html

[SCantiGOP]

1. Pretty incredible stuff

Wonder if the "moon landing was fake" people believe this really happened or not?