Japanese space probe “Hayabusa-2” February 22 will attempt to land on the surface of a 900-foot asteroid Ryugu, who it is from June of last year. Informs the Japanese aerospace exploration Agency (JAXA). Initially it was assumed that the device will land last October, however it turned out that the chosen place is not suitable for this – the surface is covered with very sharp and high rocks.
The result is more thorough verification specialists JAXA chose a new place where you can successfully land a probe on an asteroid to collect samples of soil and conduct experiments.
“The drop point and the trajectory of the landing is already determined. We will try not to allow any mistakes,” commented the decision the head of the mission “Hayabusa-2” Yuichi Tsuda.
The mission of “Hayabusa-2” at a cost of 30 billion yen (260 million dollars), was launched to the asteroid Ryugu in December 2014. June 28, 2018, the probe was getting closer to his goal. In September was held the first successful soft landing on the surface of the spacecraft is Bouncing landing modules robotic Rover-Rover 1A and-1B, aboard the probe. Another successful landing on Ryugu occurred in October. The probe landed on the surface of the asteroid 10-kilogram MASCOT module developed by the German aerospace center. The machine, equipped with various scientific equipment, worked only 17 hours, but successfully completed the planned study of soil composition and properties of the asteroid, passing these data on the Orbiter.
Scientists hope to find on the asteroid traces of water and organic substances that are believed can help in solving the mystery of the distribution of life in the Universe. The probe in total, to make three landings on an asteroid, after which by 2020, will return to Earth.
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