Hayabusa2 'on intended trajectory' to bring asteroid samples home; all you need to know

Japanese ncy officials, on December 4, said that Hayabusa 2 craft was on its intended trajectory as it approaches Earth to deliver capsule samples from distant asteroid Ryugu. As per JAXA, capsule would be released 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) away in and land in sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia, on December 5. After dropping capsule, craft is scheduled to return to and he to ar distant small asteroid called 1998KY26.

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landing

Speaking at a briefing, Yuichi Tsuda, project manr at Japan Aero Exploration ncy (JAXA) said that Hayabusa 2 was flying smoothly according to plan. “We trained ourselves and w we are fully prepared. So I''m just praying that equipment that hasn''t been used yet will work well and that re will be good wear in Australia," he said. As capsule, protected by heat shield, reenters earth’s atmosphere, it would  “briefly turn into a fireball”.  At around 10 kilometers above ground, a parachute will open to slow its fall and beacon signals will be transmitted to indicate its location.

As per astromers, collected material is from nearly 4.6 billion years ago and could provide insights on beginning of life on earth. However, it is a risky mission wherein scientists have to ensure that precious cargo with samples safely reaches ir hands from vacuum of .

mission 

Hayabusa2 reached Ryugu asteroid in June 2018 and descended on asteroid’s surface on February 2019. It n fired a small projectile into ground and scooping surface material into a container. craft n fired an impactor into asteroid from a distance, reby forming a small crater in April 2019. In July 2019, it swooped down again in to grab material ejected by impact. Hayabusa2 finally left its orbit around asteroid in vember 2019 to begin its return journey.

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Re: Japan Prepares For Asteroid Mission Hayabusa2's Daring Return To Earth

Im credits: global.jaxa.jp