Japan’s Hayabusa2 asteroid probe has been in orbit around the space rock known as Ryugu for months now, and in February it attempted its most complicated maneuver yet. The spacecraft fired a projectile into the surface of the asteroid and snagged some samples which it will eventually attempt to deliver to Earth, but it mission was far from over.
Now, less than two months later, Japan’s space group JAXA has cleared the probe to attempt another sample-gathering maneuver, requiring that the spacecraft use an explosive device to launch a projectile at the rock’s surface. Hayabusa2’s handlers back on Earth say that it appears the probe and its impactor did their jobs, and they have a photo as proof.
Trending Right Now:
Japan’s asteroid probe just blew another hole in the space rock Ryugu originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 5 Apr 2019 at 21:03:22 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read more here:: Boy Genius Report