Submission + - Spacecraft Hayabusa2 returns photos of asteroid prior to contact (syfy.com)
FranklinWebber writes: Spacecraft Hayabusa2 is approaching its target, asteroid Ryugu, after a three-and-a-half year trip. The Japan Aerospace Exporation Agency (JAXA) has released photos of the asteroid taken from a distance of several hundred kilometers and showing a diamond-shaped object.
Like its predecessor spacecraft a decade ago, Hayabusa2 is designed to collect samples from an asteroid and return them to earth. JAXA explains:
Like its predecessor spacecraft a decade ago, Hayabusa2 is designed to collect samples from an asteroid and return them to earth. JAXA explains:
A C-type asteroid, which is a target of Hayabusa2, is a more primordial body than Itokawa [the target of Hayabusa and an S-type], and is considered to contain more organic or hydrated minerals.... we expect to clarify the origin of life by analyzing [samples from Ryugu].
The Bad Astonomy blog has more discussion of the mission:
The spacecraft will deploy an impactor that will slam a 2.5 kilo piece of copper into the surface at 2 km/sec. This will dig down into the asteroid, revealing material underneath, which can then be analyzed to understand Ryugu's interior.
