The Japanese space program JAXA has accomplished a lot in 2019. After successfully guiding its asteroid probe Hayabusa2 to the space rock known as Ryugu in late 2018, the team of scientists working on the mission pulled off a number of potentially dangerous stunts, including firing projectiles at the asteroid in order to collect samples.
The mission has seen its fair share of challenges, especially after it was revealed that Ryugu’s surface was far rockier and debris-strewn than anyone could have guessed, but the sample-gathering maneuvers were successful. Now, after spending many months in orbit around the rock, Hayabusa2 is headed back to Earth.
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Japan’s asteroid probe is headed back to Earth, and it’s carrying precious cargo originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 13 Nov 2019 at 18:35:39 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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