Tag: Asteroid 1999 JU3

  • Hayabusa 2 team sets dates for asteroid landings

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    Hayabusa 2’s optical navigation camera captured this view of asteroid Ryugu from a distance of 6 kilometers (4 miles) on July 20. Credit: JAXA Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is preparing to release three hopping robots to land on asteroid Ryugu in the coming month, with tiny instruments scientists hope will explore the airless world’s boulder-strewn…

  • Asteroid probe confirmed on good trajectory after Earth flyby

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    Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft near Earth. Credit: JAXA A Japanese space probe picked up just the right amount of speed when it flew by Earth earlier this month, using the planet’s gravity to slingshot toward an asteroid scientists think is a primordial leftover from the ancient solar system, mission managers said Monday.…

  • Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid mission checks out

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    Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft. Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita Three months into an interplanetary cruise expected to last three-and-a-half years, Japan’s $300 million Hayabusa 2 mission is in good health as it begins an ion-powered pursuit of an asteroid to return a piece of it to Earth. The robotic spacecraft is already traveling more…