JAXA's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has begun orbiting asteroid 162173 Ryugu at a distance of about 20 kilometers:
JAXA confirmed Hayabusa2, JAXA's asteroid explorer rendezvoused with Ryugu, the target asteroid.
On June 27, 2018, JAXA operated Hayabusa2 chemical propulsion thrusters for the spacecraft's orbit control.*
The confirmation of the Hayabusa2 rendezvous made at 9:35 a.m. (Japan Standard Time, JST) is based on the following data analyses;
·The thruster operation of Hayabusa2 occurred nominally
·The distance between Hayabusa2 and Ryugu is approximately 20 kilometers
·Hayabusa2 is able to maintain a constant distance to asteroid Ryugu
·The status of Hayabusa2 is normal
Also at Spaceflight Now.
Previously: Hayabusa2 Approaches Asteroid Ryugu
Related Stories
Hayabusa2 will begin orbiting asteroid 162173 Ryugu on June 27th. The spacecraft includes four robotic landers and will capture material for a sample return:
The Japanese asteroid sampling mission Hayabusa2, launched on December 3, 2014 aboard an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima, Japan, has nearly completed its long flight to asteroid Ryugu (formerly 1999 JU3) after a five year mission and an Earth flyby.
[...] The Hayabusa2 follow-on has one more reaction wheel (to make four) and improved, higher thrust ion engines, along with a backup asteroid sampling system, and the spacecraft is in good health so far. Hayabusa2 is a 600 kilogram (1300 pound) spacecraft that is based on the Hayabusa craft, with some improvements. It is powered by two solar panels and uses an ion engine with xenon propellant as its main propulsion source. The ion engine technology was first used in the Deep Space One experimental spacecraft in the late 1990's and also has been successfully used in the Dawn asteroid probe as well.
[...] Besides the primary and backup sample collectors, the mission includes three MINERVA "hoppers" similar to the one used on the original Hayabusa mission that will land at several locations on the surface to study these locations with cameras and thermometers. [...] International contributions include a small robotic lander (10 kilograms or 20 pounds) called MASCOT that is a joint venture of DLR (Germany) and CNES (France), while NASA is providing communications through the Deep Space Network.
[...] Its arrival at Ryugu is set for June 27th, and Hayabusa2 will be 20 km (12 miles) above the surface on that date, as things currently stand. The arrival will be followed by a press conference in Sagamihara, Japan.
The total mission cost is about $150 million. The H-IIA rocket costs about $90 million to launch.
Also at NHK.
Hayabusa2 conducts MINERVA-II deployment on Asteroid Ryugu
The Japanese asteroid sampling mission Hayabusa2 – launched on December 3, 2014 aboard an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima, Japan – completed its long flight to asteroid Ryugu (formerly 1999 JU3) before – on September 21 – achieving the milestone of deploying its two tiny MINERVA-II robots/rovers.
[...] The Hayabusa2 mission is intended to image and sample the asteroid 1999 JU3, discovered in May 1999, now known as Ryugu, and to return samples of the asteroid, including samples excavated from an impactor to collect materials from under the surface, to Earth for analysis in laboratories.
[...] Besides the primary and backup sample collectors, the mission includes three MINERVA "hoppers" similar to the one used on the original Hayabusa mission that will land at several locations on the surface to study these locations with cameras and thermometers.
An impactor (SCI) with a 2 kg pure copper lump (Liner) will be used to excavate a crater on the surface, and there will be a sub-satellite that will be released to observe the impact.
Images from MINERVA-II 1 deployment.
162173 Ryugu and Hayabusa2.
Also at BBC, The Register, Space.com (alt).
Previously: Hayabusa2 Approaches Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
The first rovers to explore an asteroid just sent photos home
The first rovers to explore the surface of an asteroid have landed. After touching down September 21, the vehicles took pictures of asteroid Ryugu and at least one hopped around.
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which arrived at the near-Earth asteroid on June 27 after a journey of more than three years, released the MINERVA-II1 container from a height of about 60 meters (SN Online: 6/27/18). The container then released two 18-centimeter-wide, cylindrical rovers. Because Ryugu's gravity is so weak, the rovers can hop using rotating motors that generate a torque and send them airborne for about 15 minutes.
Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency released the first blurry, otherworldly pictures from the rovers on September 22. One image appears to have been taken midhop.
Images and comments from Hayabusa2 team members.
162173 Ryugu and Hayabusa2.
Previously: Hayabusa2 Approaches Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Deploys MINERVA Landers to Asteroid Ryugu
Japanese spacecraft drops box-shaped robot on asteroid's surface
Overnight, Japan's asteroid-sampling spacecraft Hayabusa2 deployed its third robot onto the surface of an asteroid named Ryugu more than 186 million miles from Earth. This time, the robotic explorer is a tiny, box-shaped lander crafted by Germany and France's space agencies, dubbed MASCOT. While on the asteroid, the robot will hop around slowly and study the surface in detail, measuring things like temperature and the composition of nearby rocks.
[...] MASCOT is also able to move around in a similar way to Rover-1A and Rover-1B. In fact, engineers already opted to move the lander once it had reached the surface last night because they found that it was sitting at a bad angle. The mission team switched on MASCOT's mobility system, shifting the robot's position and placing it in a much more favorable orientation. The German space agency DLR says that now all of MASCOT's instruments are working just fine and are continuing to collect data.
The lander has a suite of four instruments on board to characterize Ryugu. These will allow MASCOT to take pictures, measure temperatures, figure out the different minerals on the asteroid, and measure the space rock's magnetic field. However, MASCOT's time on the surface of Ryugu is limited. It doesn't have any solar panels, so it's operating entirely off of an internal battery that lasts just 16 hours. The mission team says that, as of this morning, the lander has under seven hours left to complete its work.
- Navigation Images from the MASCOT deployment operation
- The small asteroid lander, MASCOT
- Information on the MASCOT lander
Also at NPR.
Previously: Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Japan's Hopping Rovers Capture Amazing Views of Asteroid Ryugu
Another Space Diamond! NASA Probe Snaps Great Photo of Asteroid Bennu
The asteroid Bennu is really coming into focus for NASA's approaching OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
OSIRIS-REx snapped eight photos of the 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) Bennu on Monday (Oct. 29), when the probe was about 205 miles (330 kilometers) away from the space rock. Mission team members combined these images into a single "super-resolution" shot, which reveals boulders and other features on the asteroid's surface.
The striking photo also highlights Bennu's diamond shape, which is similar to that of the 3,000-foot-wide (900 m) asteroid Ryugu. Japan's Hayabusa2 mission has been orbiting Ryugu since late June and has dropped three separate landing craft onto the space rock's surface over the past five weeks.
101955 Bennu has an average diameter of 492 meters, compared to about 1 kilometer for 162173 Ryugu. New Horizons will fly by (486958) 2014 MU69, a 30-40 km object or objects, on January 1, capping the space rock trio for the year.
NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona photo.
Previously: New Horizons Spacecraft Approaches 2014 MU69; OSIRIS-REx Nears 101955 Bennu (images taken from 2.2 million km away)
Related: Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Japan's Hopping Rovers Capture Amazing Views of Asteroid Ryugu
Short-Lived MASCOT Lander Reaches Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 lands on an asteroid and sends back amazing pictures to prove it
Japan's Hayabusa2 mission to the asteroid Ryugu is an ambitious one to begin with, and the team recently made the decision to up the stakes with a second touchdown on the space rock's surface. Not only did all go as planned, but we now have the best shots of an asteroid's surface ever to be sent back to Earth.
[...] There was no guarantee this would happen, the JAXA team running the Hayabusa2 mission noted in a recent blog post. Any number of things could have resulted in a second touchdown being either too risky or not worth the trouble. Fortunately they concluded that the risk was acceptable and that this would be an important feat in more ways than one.
[...] In a brief update, JAXA provided a handful of pictures of the successful touchdown: 4 seconds before, the moment of impact, and 4 seconds after. It doesn't stay for long, more bounces off the surface than "lands."
Related: Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Faces Difficulties in Landing and Collecting a Sample from an Asteroid
Asteroid capsule 'found' in Australian desert
A recovery team in Australia has found a space capsule carrying the first large quantities of rock from an asteroid.
The capsule, containing material from a space rock called Ryugu, parachuted down near Woomera in South Australia.
The samples were originally collected by a Japanese spacecraft called Hayabusa-2, which spent more than a year investigating the object.
The container detached from Hayabusa-2, later entering the Earth's atmosphere.
The official Hayabusa-2 Twitter account reported that the capsule and its parachute had been found at 19:47 GMT.
Also at CNET.
Previously: Hayabusa2 Approaches Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Reaches Asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Deploys MINERVA Landers to Asteroid Ryugu
Japan's Hopping Rovers Capture Amazing Views of Asteroid Ryugu
Short-Lived MASCOT Lander Reaches Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Faces Difficulties in Landing and Collecting a Sample from an Asteroid
Hayabusa2 "Lands" on Asteroid Ryugu
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday June 29 2018, @02:46PM (2 children)
All of the 4 "rovers" it is carrying have cameras as well. Hopefully they don't all fail.
The rocket that launched Hayabusa2 also carried PROCYON [wikipedia.org], which was going to fly by another asteroid (a binary), but its ion thruster failed. So you'll have to wait for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test [wikipedia.org] to see another binary asteroid up close, assuming it launches.
OSIRIS-REx [wikipedia.org] reaches Bennu in August.
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(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday June 29 2018, @04:34PM (1 child)
You gotta love the contrast between the space industry making amazing achievements from international collaboration look like routine, and the 30s-like distrust, defiance, chaos and wars...
(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday June 29 2018, @11:20PM
The Japs are still a pure, homogeneous society where status is based on accomplishment; and they are the only society, some educated people say, that have their own word for "working to death."
The reason why NASA and JPL scum cannot do this is because they bit down hard into the "diversity and inclusion" pillow and spend more time discussing the roles of imaginary genders and participating in Antifa protests (retreating to their nice gated communities afterward for wine and totally righteous discussion) than actual experimental design and engineering.
America needs to be like the Japs -- all-White, hating immigrants (except Nordic German immigrants like Von Braun), and making video games like Metal Gear solid that rival even the Japs in their craftsmanship. There is a reason why America should allow only Japenese and German immigration -- because those two societies were the only worthy opponents (other than ourselves in the Civil War) in our history.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 29 2018, @05:46PM (7 children)
Most of the estimates of 162173 Ryugu's size make it less than 1 km in diameter.
It must require excruciatingly delicate maneuvering to establish and maintain an orbit, of something so small.
Add in the delay for signal transmission makes it more tricky.
How much on-board processing does Hayabusa2 have?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Friday June 29 2018, @06:06PM (5 children)
The previous Hayabusa [wikipedia.org] "landed" on an even smaller 535 × 294 × 209 m asteroid [wikipedia.org]. But it wasn't able to orbit it due to the weak gravity, so it was actually steered into a heliocentric orbit that matched the asteroid.
Hayabusa2 has some upgrades:
Not clear whether the ion engines are any better, but better navigation could help it.
Hayabusa2 has a 64-bit MIPS CPU [spaceflightinsider.com]:
Very detailed info here: https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/h/hayabusa-2 [eoportal.org]
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(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday June 29 2018, @11:56PM (4 children)
MIPS FUCK YEAH.
And with no backdoors like Jew Intel.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 30 2018, @12:45AM (3 children)
Linux-Based, MIPS-Powered Russian All-in-One PC Launched [soylentnews.org]
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(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday June 30 2018, @12:53AM (2 children)
Excluding all other angles-of-attack and otherwise forms of criticism, one cannot call a MIPS-based machine a "PC" with a straight face.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 30 2018, @01:02AM (1 child)
If you want freedom and security, you're going to have to sacrifice some (or most) performance and convenience.
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(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday June 30 2018, @01:26AM
I agree with you, Ivan. I agree that you have a dog in this fight.
But, even though some of you Russkies and George Soros' useful idiots want to subvert us as you have subverted the European continent, You will never destroy us. True Americans are ornery fucks, and we love it fine that way. Let's FIGHT!
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Friday June 29 2018, @06:08PM
Ok, it's not an actual orbit:
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