Delta4Embassy
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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
"INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT TO BUZZ EARTH ON DEC. 3RD: Japan's Hayabasa 2 spacecraft, on a six year mission to catch and sample an asteroid, will fly past Earth on Dec. 3rd. Earth's gravity will slingshot the spacecraft toward its target, 162173 Ryugu, which Hayabasa 2 is expected to reach in July 2018. This animation from JAXA (the Japanese space agency) previews the flyby:
Many readers have never heard of Hayabasa 2. It is an amazing mission. After the spacecraft reaches Ryugu in 2018, it will orbit the asteroid for a year and a half. During that time, Hayabasa 2 will deploy four landers and drop a copper impactor to blow a hole in the asteroid's side. Hayabasa 2 itself will touch down on the asteroid, briefly, at least once to collect samples excavated by the impactor. In Dec. 2019, the spacecraft will leave the asteroid and use its ion engines to return to Earth, carrying precious samples of Ryugu. Ambitious? Yes. But if Hayabasa 2 completes even a fraction if its mission, it will be a success."
"INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT TO BUZZ EARTH ON DEC. 3RD: Japan's Hayabasa 2 spacecraft, on a six year mission to catch and sample an asteroid, will fly past Earth on Dec. 3rd. Earth's gravity will slingshot the spacecraft toward its target, 162173 Ryugu, which Hayabasa 2 is expected to reach in July 2018. This animation from JAXA (the Japanese space agency) previews the flyby:
Many readers have never heard of Hayabasa 2. It is an amazing mission. After the spacecraft reaches Ryugu in 2018, it will orbit the asteroid for a year and a half. During that time, Hayabasa 2 will deploy four landers and drop a copper impactor to blow a hole in the asteroid's side. Hayabasa 2 itself will touch down on the asteroid, briefly, at least once to collect samples excavated by the impactor. In Dec. 2019, the spacecraft will leave the asteroid and use its ion engines to return to Earth, carrying precious samples of Ryugu. Ambitious? Yes. But if Hayabasa 2 completes even a fraction if its mission, it will be a success."