{"id":18330,"date":"2018-10-04T18:01:52","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T10:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/boxy-mascot-lander-plops-itself-down-on-asteroid-ryugu-for-a-17-hour-survey\/"},"modified":"2018-10-04T18:01:52","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T10:01:52","slug":"boxy-mascot-lander-plops-itself-down-on-asteroid-ryugu-for-a-17-hour-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/boxy-mascot-lander-plops-itself-down-on-asteroid-ryugu-for-a-17-hour-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxy MASCOT lander plops itself down on asteroid Ryugu for a 17-hour survey"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MASCOT
An artist\u2019s conception shows the MASCOT lander sitting on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. (JAXA Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The foot-wide, German-built lander is called MASCOT, which stands for Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout. It was ejected from Japan\u2019s Hayabusa 2 probe from a height of 51 meters (167 feet) and drifted downward to Ryugu at walking speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could not have gone better,\u201d Tra-Mi Ho, MASCOT project manager at the DLR Institute of Space Systems, said today in a status update. \u201cFrom the lander\u2019s telemetry, we were able to see that it separated from the mothercraft and made contact with the asteroid surface approximately 20 minutes later.\u201d<\/p>\n

MASCOT took a picture of its own shadow on Ryugu\u2019s surface as it descended:<\/p>\n