Tag: Asteroids
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After visiting asteroid, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe heads back to Earth with samples
An image from Hayabusa 2’s camera shows the half-mile-wide, diamond-shaped asteroid known as Ryugu receding in the metaphorical rear-view mirror. (JAXA, Chiba Institute of Technology and Collaborators) Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft and its science team bid a bittersweet farewell to the asteroid Ryugu, 180 million miles from Earth, and began the months-long return trip to…
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One year after Planetary Resources faded into history, space mining retains its appeal
An artist’s conception shows Planetary Resources’ Arkyd 300 spacecraft prospecting amid a cluster of asteroids. (Planetary Resources Illustration) It’s been a year since the Redmond, Wash.-based asteroid mining venture known as Planetary Resources was acquired by ConsenSys and pivoted to blockchain projects in space — but the idea of mining space resources still resonates among…
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NASA to proceed with asteroid surveillance mission
Artist’s concept of the Near-Earth Object Camera, or NEOCam, spacecraft. NASA’s planned NEO Surveillance Mission will be similar to the NEOCam concept, which has been under study for more than a decade. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After years of studies, NASA plans to move forward with a space-based telescope that could launch as soon as 2025 to…
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NASA science chief says NEO Surveillance Mission will seek out threatening asteroids
The NEO Surveillance Mission’s space telescope would take advantage of technologies developed for NEOCam, the proposed spacecraft shown in this artist’s conception. (IPAC / Caltech Illustration) The head of NASA’s science operations says the space agency intends to develop a new space-based infrared telescope to hunt down near-Earth objects — not primarily for science’s sake,…
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Hayabusa 2 completes practice run for deployment of last asteroid lander
One of two target markers released by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is seen in this overlay image with frames showing the target marker’s location at 4-second intervals. Credit: JAXA Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft deployed two target markers Monday above asteroid Ryugu in a rehearsal for the release of the mission’s final landing robot next month.…
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NASA’s first interplanetary smallsats may struggle to stay under cost caps
Artist’s concept of the Janus mission imaging a binary asteroid. Credit: NASA The first set of proposals for a new class of small robotic probes NASA wants to dispatch across the solar system came in with higher cost estimates than agency officials expected, a NASA manager said Sunday. NASA selected three finalist mission concepts in…
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Japanese spacecraft snags second sample from asteroid
A camera on-board Hayabusa 2 shows the spacecraft’s sampler horn contacting the asteroid’s surface, then kicking up rocky debris after firing a sampling projectile. Credit: JAXA Scientists celebrated another success with Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft late Wednesday (U.S. time), when the robot explorer accomplished a second pinpoint touch-and-go landing on asteroid Ryugu, this time to…
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Hayabusa 2 cleared for second touchdown on asteroid
Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft touching down on asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita Ground teams have approved plans for Japan’s Hayabusa 2 sample return mission to briefly land on asteroid Ryugu for the second time July 11, aiming for a targeted touch-and-go to gather material exposed by an explosive impactor released by the…
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Japanese probe readies for another possible touch-and-go on asteroid
A camera on-board Hayabusa 2 captured this image of the target marker (the bright feature at bottom right) being released just above asteroid Ryugu on May 30. Credit: JAXA Approaching the one-year anniversary since its arrival at asteroid Ryugu, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft has deployed a target marker near an artificial crater created by an…
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Hayabusa 2 locates artificial crater on asteroid
[CRA2] Crater formation where the Small Carry-on Impactor collided with Ryugu has been confirmed! These images compare the surface before and after the SCI collision. pic.twitter.com/BZPYlHhSjs — HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) April 25, 2019 New images from Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft show the location of a fresh crater carved from the jagged terrain of asteroid Ryugu by…