Thursday, 21 February 2019

Touchdown: Japan's Hayabusa 2 probe snatches dust from asteroid Ryugu

Artists impression of the Hayabusa 2 probe, which launched for the asteroid Ryugu in 2014

Mission scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are celebrating today, after data from its Hayabusa 2 probe confirmed a successfully touchdown on its target, a kilometer-wide near-Earth asteroid called Ryugu. This in itself is a triumph for the team, but the indications are that the spacecraft's effort to snaffle dust from the surface were also successful, meaning an invaluable sample holding potential secrets of the early Solar System will soon be making its way back to Earth.

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from New Atlas (Gizmag) https://ift.tt/2NsePKh

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