Japan's asteroid sample-return spacecraft Hayabusa2 gets extended mission
By Doris Elin Urrutia 4 hours ago
The Japanese spacecraft will arrive at a new asteroid in the year 2031.
Image caption: Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft descends toward the asteroid
Ryugu on the night of Oct. 2, 2018, ahead of the deployment of the MASCOT
lander. This photo was taken at an altitude of about 430 feet (130 meters)
above Ryugu.
(Image: © JAXA)
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 is currently making its round-trip return from an asteroid, bringing pieces of the space rock back to Earth. But instead of ending its run with that cosmic delivery, after dropping off its precious parcel, the spacecraft will swing back out into space to visit another rocky destination.
After Hayabusa2 delivers its samples of asteroid Ryugu to Earth in December, the craft will head off toward a new asteroid target: 1998 KY26, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement. The spacecraft should reach the new asteroid in 2031.
Hayabusa2 reached asteroid Ryugu in June 2018 and spent over a year studying the space rock. The spacecraft left Ryugu in November 2019 and its sample-return capsule will return pieces of the asteroid to Earth with a Dec. 6 landing in the Australian Outback.
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Home News Science & Astronomy
Japan's asteroid sample-return spacecraft Hayabusa2 gets extended mission
By Doris Elin Urrutia 4 hours ago
The Japanese spacecraft will arrive at a new asteroid in the year 2031.
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hayabusa2 asteroid ryugu
Image caption: Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft descends toward the asteroid Ryugu on the night of Oct. 2, 2018, ahead of the deployment of the MASCOT lander. This photo was taken at an altitude of about 430 feet (130 meters) above Ryugu.
(Image: © JAXA)
The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 is currently making its round-trip return from an asteroid, bringing pieces of the space rock back to Earth. But instead of ending its run with that cosmic delivery, after dropping off its precious parcel, the spacecraft will swing back out into space to visit another rocky destination.
After Hayabusa2 delivers its samples of asteroid Ryugu to Earth in December, the craft will head off toward a new asteroid target: 1998 KY26, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement. The spacecraft should reach the new asteroid in 2031.
Hayabusa2 reached asteroid Ryugu in June 2018 and spent over a year studying the space rock. The spacecraft left Ryugu in November 2019 and its sample-return capsule will return pieces of the asteroid to Earth with a Dec. 6 landing in the Australian Outback.
Hayabusa2's first mission aimed to help scientists learn about the composition of the asteroid Ryugu's minerals, and thereby learn more about the origin and evolution of Earth and the solar system. This new extended mission will send Hayabusa2 on a decades-long cruise through space to focus on planetary defense, interplanetary dust and exoplanet detection.
More:
https://www.space.com/japan-asteroid-mission-hayabusa2-extended