5 APR Japanese spacecraft “Hayabusa-2” dropped to the surface of a 500-meter asteroid Ryugu bomb consisting of a copper shell with a mass of 2.5 kg and 4.5 kg of explosive charge. At an altitude of about 300 meters the projectile exploded, sending accelerated to the speed of 2 kilometers per second to 2.5 kg penetrator to the surface of a small celestial body.
The spacecraft, owned by the Japanese aerospace exploration Agency (JAXA), located near the asteroid and studying its features for almost a year. “Haba-2” has reached its target and went into orbit Ryugu in June 2018. In the course of its work the unit has carried out various risky operations, and in order to better understand the history of space rock, which, as scientists believe, holds some secrets of our Solar system since its formation.
First, the probe was lowered to the surface of the asteroid a few prigorodov – compact robots, studied its surface. Then the device as close to the Ryuga, shot him with a tantalum bullet, and gathered rose into space, its particles of soil. However, the most “extreme” part of the mission of the probe was to reset this bomb on a space object. The operation of the apparatus just spent 5 April this year.
A few weeks later the Japanese Agency JAXA has finally shared footage of that event. They were received by the chamber “Hayabusa-2” at the time of resetting rocket jump. The survey was conducted on-Board infrared camera TIR (Thermal Infrared Camera). Unfortunately, the video does not show the time of the creation of a crater on the surface of Ryugu, as the machine after we dropped the bomb immediately flew off from the object at a safe distance so as not to be damaged by the explosion, but we can again clearly see the asteroid surface from a height of about 500 metres.
After “Hayabusa-2” to reset the charge, he flew to the other side of the Ryuga and was there the last two weeks. On the day of surgery specialists JAXA confirmed that the shell reached the surface Ryugu. This event was recorded on a standalone camera DCAM3 that “Hayabusa-2” “shot” with a shell – she was filming the process.
It is assumed that the spacecraft will be close to Ryugu to the end of the year, and then together with the soil samples will go to the Ground and at the end of 2020 will drop a capsule with the collected material on the surface of our planet for further study in scientific laboratories.
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