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
Related Stories
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
Japan's Hopping Rovers Capture Amazing Views of Asteroid Ryugu (Video)
Two tiny, hopping rovers that landed on asteroid Ryugu last week have beamed back some incredible new views of the asteroid's rocky surface.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Hayabusa2 sample-return mission dropped the two nearly identical rovers, named Minerva-II1A and Minerva-II1B, onto the surface of Ryugu on Sept. 21. In a new video from the eyes of Minerva-II1B, you can watch the sun move across the sky as its glaring sunlight reflects off the shiny rocks that cover Ryugu's surface.
Also at Hayabusa2 project website.
takyon: Additionally, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft has returned its highest resolution view of Ryugu, from when it dropped the Minerva rovers.
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
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: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 04 2018, @01:03AM (1 child)
Reminds me of the Aggies who were going to fly a rocket to the sun, to explore. Someone told them they would burn up before they ever reached the sun. The Aggies responded that they were going to fly at night.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:36AM
Icarus wanted to fly to the sun too, but the sun's heat melted the wax that stuck his wings' feathers to his arm so he fell into the sea and drowned.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:33AM
I read that as "Japanese spacecraft drops short-lived robot on asteroid's surface". My dyslexia didn't give me a learning disability because the way I see entirely different words leads the sentences their in not to make any sense at all. But not always - this particular time I felt bad for the mission's staff then was puzzled as I read the article to find out what happened to that ill-fated robot.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday October 05 2018, @02:38PM
I suppose the "extended mission time" for this craft is measured in minutes then. ;) One... more... jump!
This sig for rent.