Tag: Asteroids
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Why in the universe is a blockchain company buying the assets of a formerly high-flying asteroid miner?
Planetary Resources President and CEO Chris Lewicki talks about the company’s satellite ambitions at the 2014 GeekWire Summit. (GeekWire Photo) After months of financial uncertainty, the Planetary Resources asteroid-mining venture says its assets have been purchased by the Brooklyn-based ConsenSys blockchain venture. In a news release, Planetary Resources said its CEO and president, Chris Lewicki,…
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MASCOT lander hops around asteroid, exceeding scientists’ expectations
This image was taken by MASCOT’s camera between 10 and 20 meters (32 and 65 feet) above the asteroid’s surface. Credit: MASCOT/DLR/JAXA BREMEN and COLOGNE, Germany — The MASCOT lander released from Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft this week made three hops to different locations on asteroid Ryugu before draining its battery, outliving its design life…
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MASCOT lander sends back otherworldly views of asteroid Ryugu’s rugged terrain
The MASCOT lander’s view of asteroid Ryugu’s lumpy, bumpy surface was displayed during a post-mission news conference. Click on the image for more from German science writer Daniel Fischer’s Skyweek 2.0 website. (DLR Photo / Processed by Daniel Fischer) Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe and the German-French MASCOT lander have teamed up to send back amazing…
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Boxy MASCOT lander plops itself down on asteroid Ryugu for a 17-hour survey
An artist’s conception shows the MASCOT lander sitting on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. (JAXA Illustration) A robotic probe the size of a shoebox set itself down on the asteroid Ryugu, more than 180 million miles from Earth, and conducted a 17-hour survey of its rocky surroundings. The foot-wide, German-built lander is called MASCOT,…
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Descent begins for European asteroid lander
Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft approaching asteroid Ryugu. Credit: DLR A German-built landing probe the size of a microwave oven carrying a camera and a suite of scientific instruments was closing in on asteroid Ryugu Tuesday, riding aboard Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to join two other robots deployed to the asteroid’s surface last…
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Live coverage: MASCOT lander begins exploring asteroid Ryugu
Live coverage of the final descent and landing of MASCOT, a miniature robot developed in Germany and France carried aboard Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft exploring asteroid Ryugu. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. Check this page for live updates during MASCOT’s missing at Ryugu.
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Check out close-up views of asteroid (plus a movie) from Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission
This image of the asteroid Ryugo was captured by the Hayabusa 2 probe’s ONC-T camera at an altitude of about 64 meters (210 feet). Image was taken on Sept. 21. A large boulder is at bottom left, along with a scale bar indicating the length of 1 meter. (Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University,…
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Japanese robots land on asteroid, send back pictures
The MINERVA-II-1A rover captured this blurred image Saturday at 0244 GMT (10:44 p.m. EDT Friday) showing asteroid Ryugu as the robot hopped across its surface. The bright feature on the right side of the image was caused by sunlight. Credit: JAXA A pair of tiny automated robots touched down on asteroid Ryugu on Friday after…
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Japanese mini-rovers send back their first images as they hop around an asteroid
An image from the Hayabusa 2 mission’s Rover-1A shows the surface of the asteroid Ryugu at left. The bright white region is due to sunlight. The image, captured at about 11:44 a.m. JST Sept. 22 (7:44 p.m. PT Sept. 21), is blurry because it was taken while the mini-rover was in the middle of a hop…
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Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe drops off rovers at an asteroid and snaps a shadowy selfie
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe takes a picture of the asteroid Ryugu from a distance of about 135 meters (440 feet) with its own shadow seen on the surface. (JAXA Photo) Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe began the climactic phase of its mission overnight by sending out its first two rovers as it hovered less than 200…