{"id":18340,"date":"2018-09-27T17:21:03","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T09:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/check-out-close-up-views-of-asteroid-plus-a-movie-from-japans-hayabusa-2-mission\/"},"modified":"2018-09-27T17:21:03","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T09:21:03","slug":"check-out-close-up-views-of-asteroid-plus-a-movie-from-japans-hayabusa-2-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/check-out-close-up-views-of-asteroid-plus-a-movie-from-japans-hayabusa-2-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Check out close-up views of asteroid (plus a movie) from Japan\u2019s Hayabusa 2 mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ryugu
This image of the asteroid Ryugo was captured by the Hayabusa 2 probe\u2019s 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, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, Aizu University, AIST)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The scientists and engineers behind Japan\u2019s Hayabusa 2 mission made history last week when the mission\u2019s mothership dropped two mini-rovers onto the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, 180 million miles from Earth, but they\u2019re not resting on their laurels.<\/p>\n

The first rovers to hop around an asteroid\u2019s surface have continued to send back pictures of their travels \u2014 and so has the main spacecraft, which is keeping watch dozens of miles above them.<\/p>\n

One of the pictures shows a high-resolution view of Ryugu\u2019s surface from above, highlighted by a big boulder\u2019s sharp shadow. The image was captured by the main spacecraft\u2019s telescopic optical navigation camera, or ONC-T, as it closed in on Ryugu for the rover drop on Sept. 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the highest-resolution photograph obtained of the surface of Ryugu,\u201d the science team says. Two farther-away pictures from Hayabusa 2\u2019s archive show the wide-angle context for the scene:<\/p>\n

\"Context
Two long-distance pictures taken by Japan\u2019s Hayabusa 2 probe zero in on the scene shown in a close-up picture of asteroid Ryugu. (Credit: AXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, Aizu University, AIST)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The spacecraft also has been relaying back more pictures from the mini-rovers. Here\u2019s a six-pack of tweeted highlights, starting with a 15-frame movie assembled from Rover-1B\u2019s snapshots.<\/p>\n