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

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

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The landing

Speaking at a briefing, Yuichi Tsuda, project manager at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said that Hayabusa 2 was flying smoothly according to the plan. “We trained ourselves and now we are fully prepared. So I''m just praying that equipment that hasn''t been used yet will work well and that there will be good weather in Australia," he said. As the capsule, protected by heat shield, reenters the 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 astronomers, the collected material is from nearly 4.6 billion years ago and could provide insights on the beginning of life on earth. However, it is a risky mission wherein scientists have to ensure that the precious cargo with samples safely reaches their hands from the vacuum of space.

The mission 

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

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

Image credits: global.jaxa.jp