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Hayabusa2asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese state space agency JAXA. It is a successor to the Hayabusa2 was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused in space with near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 27 June 2018.UTC.

Hayabusa2 carries multiple science payloads for remote sensing and sampling, and four small rovers to investigate the asteroid surface and analyze the environmental and geological context of the samples collected.

Initially, launch was planned for 30 November 2014,H-IIA launch vehicle.Hayabusa2 launched together with PROCYON asteroid flyby space probe. PROCYON"s mission was a failure. Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu on 27 June 2018,

Following the initial success of Hayabusa, JAXA began studying a potential successor mission in 2007.Hayabusa2. The cost of the project estimated in 2010 was 16.4 billion yen (US$149 million).

Hayabusa2 was launched on 3 December 2014, arrived at asteroid Ryugu on 27 June 2018, and remained stationary at a distance of about 20 km (12 mi) to study and map the asteroid. In the week of 16 July 2018, commands were sent to move to a lower hovering altitude.

The first sample collection was scheduled to start in late October 2018, but the rovers encountered a landscape with large and small boulders but no surface soil for sampling. Therefore, it was decided to postpone the sample collection plans to 2019 and further evaluate various options for the landing.Hayabusa2 released an impactor to create an artificial crater on the asteroid surface. However, Hayabusa2 initially failed on 14 May 2019 to drop special reflective markers necessary onto the surface for guiding the descent and sampling processes,JST), dropping the contents by parachute in a special container at a location in southern Australia. The samples were retrieved the same day for secure transport back to the JAXA labs in Japan.

The design of Hayabusa2 is based on the first Hayabusa spacecraft, with some improvements.solar arrays with an output of 2.6 kW at 1 AU, and 1.4 kW at 1.4 AU.lithium-ion batteries.

Hayabusa2 carried four small rovers to explore the asteroid surface MINERVA-II-2, failed before release from the orbiter. It was released on 2 October 2019 to orbit the asteroid and perform gravitational measurements before being allowed to impact the asteroid a few days later.

MASCOT was deployed 3 October 2018. It had a successful landing and performed its surface mission successfully. Two papers were published describing the results from MASCOT in the scientific journals C-type asteroids consist of more porous material than previously thought, explaining a deficit of this meteorite type. Meteorites of this type are too porous to survive the entry into the atmosphere of planet Earth. Another finding was that Ryugu consists of two different almost black types of rock with little internal cohesion, but no dust was detected.Journal of Geophysical Research and describes the magnetic properties of Ryugu, showing that Ryugu does not have a magnetic field on a boulder scale.

The first two surface samples were scheduled to start in late October 2018, but the rovers showed large and small boulders and insufficient surface area to sample, so the mission team decided to postpone sampling to 2019 and evaluate various options.

Hayabusa2"s sampling device is based on Hayabusa"s. The first surface sample retrieval was conducted on 21 February 2019, which began with the spacecraft"s descent, approaching the surface of the asteroid. When the sampler horn attached to Hayabusa2"s underside touched the surface, a 5 g (0.18 oz) tantalum projectile (bullet) was fired at 300 m/s (980 ft/s) into the surface.

The sub-surface sample collection required an impactor to create a crater in order to retrieve material under the surface, not subjected to space weathering. This required removing a large volume of surface material with a powerful impactor. For this purpose, Hayabusa2 deployed on 5 April 2019 a free-flying gun with one "bullet", called the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI); the system contained a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) copper projectile, shot onto the surface with an explosive propellant charge. Following SCI deployment, Hayabusa2 also left behind a deployable camera (DCAM3)

Replica of Hayabusa"s sample-return capsule (SRC) used for re-entry. Hayabusa2"s capsule is of the same size, measuring 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and using a parachute for touchdown.

At the end of the science phase in November 2019,Hayabusa2 used its ion engines for changing orbit and return to Earth.Hayabusa2 flew past Earth in late 2020, it released the capsule, on 5 December 2020 at 05:30 UTC.Woomera Test Range in Australia.×10^9 km (35.0 AU).

With the successful return and retrieval of the sample capsule on 6 December 2020 (JST), Hayabusa2 will now use its remaining 30 kg (66 lb) of xenon propellant (from the initial 66 kg (146 lb)) to extend its service life and fly out to explore new targets.2001 CC21 will be a high-speed fly-by of the L-type asteroid, a relatively uncommon type of asteroid.Hayabusa2 was not designed for this type of fly-by. The rendezvous with 1998 KY26 will be the first visit of a fast rotating micro-asteroid, with a rotation period of about 10 minutes.exoplanets.Venus flyby to set up an encounter with

The nickname of the Extended Mission is “Hayabusa2♯” (read “Hayabusa2 Sharp”). The character “♯” is a musical symbol that means “raise the note by a semitone”, and for this mission, it is also the acronym for “Small Hazardous Asteroid Reconnaissance Probe”. This name indicates that the Hayabusa2 Extended Mission is set to investigate small but potentially dangerous asteroids that may collide with the Earth in the future. The English meaning of the word “sharp” also highlights the extremely challenging nature of this mission, which is also reflected in the musical meaning of “raise the note by a semitone”, suggestive of raising of the rank of the mission.

As the character “♯” is a musical symbol, it can be difficult to enter in practice when typing. The symbol can therefore be substituted for the “#” symbol (number sign / pound / hash) that is on computer keyboards or phones. There is no problem with the notation “Hayabusa2♯” (musical symbol) or “Hayabusa2#”.

Tachibana, S.; Abe, M.; Arakawa, M.; Fujimoto, M.; Iijima, Y.; Ishiguro, M.; Kitazato, K.; Kobayashi, N.; Namiki, N.; Okada, T.; Okazaki, R.; Sawada, H.; Sugita, S.; Takano, Y.; Tanaka, S.; Watanabe, S.; Yoshikawa, M.; Kuninaka, H. (2014). "Hayabusa2: Scientific importance of samples returned from C-type near-Earth asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3". Geochemical Journal. 48 (6): 571–587. Bibcode:2014GeocJ..48..571T. doi:10.2343/geochemj.2.0350.

Yuichi Tsuda; Makoto Yoshikawa; Masanao Abe; Hiroyuki Minamino; Satoru Nakazawa (October–November 2013). "System design of the Hayabusa 2 – Asteroid sample return mission to 1999 JU3". Acta Astronautica. 91: 356–362. Bibcode:2013AcAau..91..356T. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2013.06.028.

Makoto Yoshikawa (6 January 2011). 小惑星探査ミッション「はやぶさ2 [Asteroid Exploration Mission "Hayabusa2"] (PDF) (in Japanese). 11th Symposium on Space Science. Retrieved 20 February 2011.

Operation Status of Ion Engines of Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2, Nishiyama, Kazutaka; Hosoda, Satoshi; Tsukizaki, Ryudo; Kuninaka, Hitoshi; JAXA, January 2017

The Ion Engine System for Hayabusa2 Archived 6 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The 32nd International Electric Propulsion Conference, Wiesbaden, Germany, September 11–15, 2011

Kameda, S.; Suzuki, H.; Takamatsu, T.; Cho, Y.; Yasuda, T.; Yamada, M.; Sawada, H.; Honda, R.; Morota, T.; Honda, C.; Sato, M.; Okumura, Y.; Shibasaki, K.; Ikezawa, S.; Sugita, S. (2017). "Preflight Calibration Test Results for Optical Navigation Camera Telescope (ONC-T) Onboard the Hayabusa2 Spacecraft". Space Science Reviews. 208 (1–4): 17–31. Bibcode:2017SSRv..208...17K. doi:10.1007/s11214-015-0227-y. S2CID 255069232.

Terui, Fuyuto; Tsuda, Yuichi; Ogawa, Naoko; Mimasu, Yuya (July 2014). 小惑星探査機「はやぶさ2」の航法誘導制御における自動・自律機 [Autonomy for Guidance, Navigation and Control of Hayabusa2] (PDF). Artificial Intelligence (in Japanese). 29 (4). ISSN 2188-2266. Retrieved 9 July 2018.

Okada, Tatsuaki; Fukuhara, Tetsuya; Tanaka, Satoshi; Taguchi, Makoto; Imamura, Takeshi; Arai, Takehiko; Senshu, Hiroki; Ogawa, Yoshiko; Demura, Hirohide; Kitazato, Kohei; Nakamura, Ryosuke; Kouyama, Toru; Sekiguchi, Tomohiko; Hasegawa, Sunao; Matsunaga, Tsuneo (July 2017). "Thermal Infrared Imaging Experiments of C-Type Asteroid 162173 Ryugu on Hayabusa2". Space Science Reviews. 208 (1–4): 255–286. Bibcode:2017SSRv..208..255O. doi:

Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tsuda, Yuichi; Yoshikawa, Makoto. "MINERVA-II1: Successful image capture, landing on Ryugu and hop!". JAXA Hayabusa2 Project. JAXA. Retrieved 24 September 2018.

Yoshimitsu, Tetsuo; Kubota, Takashi; Tomiki, Atsushi; Yoshikaw, Kent (24 October 2019). Operation results of MINERVA-II twin rovers onboard Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer (PDF). 70th International Astronautical Congress. International Astronautical Federation. Retrieved 25 January 2020.

Ho, Tra-Mi; et al. (2017). "MASCOT—The Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout Onboard the Hayabusa2 Mission". Space Science Reviews. 208 (1–4): 339–374. Bibcode:2017SSRv..208..339H. doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0251-6. S2CID 255067977.

Grott, M.; Knollenberg, J.; Borgs, B.; Hänschke, F.; Kessler, E.; Helbert, J.; Maturilli, A.; Müller, N. (1 August 2016). "The MASCOT Radiometer MARA for the Hayabusa 2 Mission". Space Science Reviews. 208 (1–4): 413–431. Bibcode:2017SSRv..208..413G. doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0272-1. S2CID 118245538.

Saiki, Takanao; Sawada, Hirotaka; Okamoto, Chisato; Yano, Hajime; Takagi, Yasuhiko; Akahoshi, Yasuhiro; Yoshikawa, Makoto (2013). "Small carry-on impactor of Hayabusa2 mission". Acta Astronautica. 84: 227–236. Bibcode:2013AcAau..84..227S. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2012.11.010.

Sarli, Bruno Victorino; Tsuda, Yuichi (2017). "Hayabusa2 extension plan: Asteroid selection and trajectory design". Acta Astronautica. 138: 225–232. Bibcode:2017AcAau.138..225S. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.05.016.

"はやぶさ２、再び小惑星へ 地球帰還後も任務継続―対象天体を選定へ・ＪＡＸＡ" [Hayabusa2 will explore another asteroid, continuing mission after returning target sample to Earth] (in Japanese). Jiji Press. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.

Japan’s mission to bring asteroid dust back to Earth has succeeded. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed on 14 December that a capsule from spacecraft Hayabusa2, which landed in an Australian desert last week, contained black grains from asteroid Ryugu.

“The confirmation of sample is a very important milestone for us and for JAXA,” says Yuichi Tsuda, project manager for the mission at JAXA, in Sagamihara.

“Images that Hayabusa2 took during its landing operations made us confident that the spacecraft collected Ryugu samples,” wrote Satoru Nakazawa, deputy manager of the mission, in an e-mail while in Woomera, Australia. But the team couldn’t know for sure until they disassembled the capsule and saw the dark dust.

Once the capsule is fully unsealed, possibly later today, JAXA scientists will measure the material’s mass and study its composition and structure. They hope to have collected at least 0.1 grams of material, says Yoshikawa Makoto, mission manager for Hayabusa2 at JAXA.

Hayabusa2 collected the samples over a year and a half of poking and prodding Ryugu—a small asteroid shaped like a squashed sphere, peppered with giant boulders. Ryugu is a C-type, or carbon-rich, asteroid, which scientists think contains organic and hydrated minerals preserved from as far back as 4.6 billion years ago. The samples could help to explain how Earth became covered with water. Scientists think it came on asteroids or similar planetary bodies from the outer regions of the Solar System.

Hayabusa2 has now begun its 11-year journey to its next destination: a fast-rotating asteroid known as 1998 KY26. To reach it, the spacecraft will fly by another asteroid—2001 CC21—and swing past Earth another two times.

Hayabusa 2 is an Asteroid exploration mission by the Japanese Space Exploration Agency setting out to study Asteroid 1999 JU3, dispatch a series of landers and a penetrator, and acquire sample material for return to Earth. The mission builds on the original Hayabusa mission that launched in 2003 and successfully linked up with asteroid Itokawa in 2005 and returned samples to Earth in 2010 marking the first time sample materials from an asteroid were brought back to Earth.

Hayabusa 2 is planned to complete a mission of six years – launching in December 2014 and traveling through the solar system for three and a half years, arriving at 1999 JU3 in July 2018 to spend 18 months studying the asteroid before making its return to Earth in December 2020.

Another payload of the mission is an impactor device that will be deployed towards the asteroid and uses high-explosives to generate a high-speed impact that is hoped to expose material from under the asteroid’s surface for later collection by Hayabusa 2. A deployable camera will be used to document the impact of the penetrator.

Over the next two weeks, teams were fighting to keep the mission alive since the spacecraft was loosing attitude control – its reaction wheels had already failed and the thruster leak caused the vehicle to spin – pointing its solar arrays away from the sun leading to power issues and pointing the communication antennas away from Earth. After attempts to correct the attitude by venting xenon gas through the ion thruster system, contact with the probe was lost on December 8 due to a sudden change in orientation. To stabilize, Hayabusa needed time for the conversion of precession rate to pure rotation which was expected to take several weeks.

With Hayabusa 1 still on its way through the solar system, a possible follow-on mission was proposed in 2006 to closely resemble the original mission featuring a nearly identical spacecraft with only minor changes to respond to issues seen during the Hayabusa mission. With the initial drive to fly the mission as soon as possible teams were hoping to launch in 2010 or 2011, but the budget did not permit a launch then. The additional development time allowed more changes to be made to the original spacecraft design to use more advanced and robust systems and modify the payload suite, also acquiring international support from NASA and a team of the German Aerospace Center and CNES. New systems were added including a Ka-Band antenna and impactor.

Asteroid 1999 JU3 was discovered by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) that has been heavily studied using ground and space-based telescopes. Telescopic data shows that the asteroid is about 920 meters in size and has a rotation period of 7.6 hours. Spectroscopic analysis showed that that asteroid belongs to the C-type class of primitive bodies. Data also suggests that the asteroid, at some point in its life, was in contact with water. JU3 orbits the sun in an orbit of 0.963 by 1.416 Astronomical units, inclined 5.88 degrees. This orbit, stretching from Earth’s orbit out to just outside the orbit of Mars with a small inclination makes the object suitable for a return mission.

Asteroids can be divided into different classes based on their composition with each group showing different distributions within the asteroid belt between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter, depending on their distance to the sun. While Hayabusa studied and returned sample from an S-type asteroid that are stony in composition, the follow-on mission will explore a C-type asteroid.

Other asteroid types that can be found farther from the sun are P- and D-type asteroids that are not abundantly found on Earth due to their stable orbits in the outer region of the asteroid belt or as Jovian Trojans. It is desired that a possible Hayabusa 2 follow-on mission would study one of these types of bodies to get a full picture of the composition of the different primitive bodies.

The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is similar in architecture to the first Hayabusa spacecraft with a number of notable changes, not only to the instrument and payload suite, but also to the spacecraft platform itself. These changes include the addition of a reaction wheel to create a redundant configuration, the addition of a Ka-Band communications system and changes to the Ion Engine System using more robust technology. Components kept from the original mission allow teams to rely on flight-proven technology that has shown to perform well over the course of a mission lasting over half a decade.

The original Hayabusa spacecraft had only three reaction wheels that were also capable of controlling the orientation on all axes, but did not have any redundancy. Early in the mission, one of the wheels failed followed by another later in the flight, requiring Hayabusa to rely on its engines to maintain its attitude. The addition of a fourth wheel ensures that the system can tolerate the failure of one of the wheels without losing any attitude control capabilities.

Two redundant Inertial Reference Units are used to augment attitude determination and for use to measure body rates in order to stabilize the spacecraft rates so that the star trackers can acquire star patterns which requires the spacecraft to dampen body rates to a certain level. The accelerometers provide insight into the operation of the propulsion system, allowing the precise tracking of the achieved changes in velocity supplied by the Ion Engine System that will be in operation for several thousand hours over the course of the six year mission.

Improvements made to the propulsion system from Hayabusa 1 to 2 include a 25% increase in thrust and added mechanisms to prevent plasma ignition malfunctions in the ion source. The neutralizer, that had shown degradation after the first 10,000 hours of operation, was improved by protecting the outer walls from plasma and by strengthening the magnetic field to decrease the applied voltage needed for the emission of electrons. Hayabusa 2’s ion thrusters are planned to operate for over 18,000 hours.

Having two high gain communication systems adds redundancy and also expands the vehicle’s overall capabilities in terms of downlink volume. The X-Band system will be used for day-to-day operations, that is, telemetry downlink and command uplink to the spacecraft. The Ka-Band system is primarily used for the downlink of science data, taking advantage of its higher downlink rate of 32kbit/s. The Ka-Band system also allows for a more precise DDOR (Delta-Differential One-way Ranging) that will complement the normal line-of-sight ranging and doppler measurements for improved navigation during the mission.

To serve as a demonstrator for future deep-space optical communications, LIDAR will be used around the time of the Earth flyby one year into the mission when a laser pulse will be sent from Earth to be received by LIDAR that will immediately return a pulse to the ground station to demonstrate a basic link experiment. The ground station to be used is NICT Koganei, using a 1.2J laser operating at a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz.

The Impact Sampling System of the Hayabusa 2 mission is almost identical to that of its predecessor – firing a projectile into the asteroid that ejects small grains of material which are caught in a sampling horn and travel up the sample collection system to be sealed in containers that will eventually be returned to Earth. The sampling system from bottom to top consists of a metal aluminum skirt, an extendable fabric horn, a conical horn funneling the sample into the spacecraft to the sample catchers and the sample container inside the Return Capsule.

The optical system of the NIRS3 instrument consists of an aperture cover, a field stopslit, two mirrors, a diffraction grating, camera lenses, a detector and two calibration targets. The Al/Ge optical components reside on a stable optical bench protected by a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic box case. Infrared light entering the spectrometer through the 70 by 70-micron slit is dispersed by a flat transmission diffraction grating combined with a cross disperser. The mirrors then direct the dispersed light to the optics that re-focus the first-order light onto the detector. The spectrometer has a field of view of 0.1 by 0.1 degrees..

The Thermal Infrared Imager of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will deliver valuable information on the physical properties of the asteroid’s surface by monitoring regional variations of thermal inertia, thermal emissions, and temporal variations of surface temperature.

During the mission, TIR operates for one 7.6-hour asteroid rotation per week while more operating time will be available for global mapping at high phase angles. Smaller sites such as boulders and craters are identified during the mapping of the asteroid and will be observed by TIR when favorable passes occur. The instrument is active during the descent and touchdown phase for close-up and in-situ observations.

The Return Capsule of Hayabusa 2 is similar to that flown on the first mission, capable of returning the Sample Container with three filled sample catchers to Earth, performing a re-entry at a speed of 12km/s for a parachute-assisted landing in the Woomera Test Range in Australia. The Return Capsule has a total mass of 16.5 Kilograms, measures 40 centimeters in diameter and stands 20 centimeters tall.

The Hayabusa 2 mission includes a series of landing craft that are hitching a ride to the asteroid aboard the spacecraft, namely a series of three MINERVA II rovers developed at Japanese Universities and JAXA, and the MASCOT lander, a contribution from the German Aerospace Center and the French Space Agency CNES.

MASCOT – the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout is a small lander developed by the German Aerospace Center and the French Space Agency using knowledge gained from the development of the Philae lander of the Rosetta mission that became the first craft to make a soft landing on a comet in November 2014. Initial studies of the lander began in 2008 and its realization was decided by JAXA, DLR and CNES in 2012.

The MASCOT lander is designed to be able to hop from one location to another using a mobility system that will allow it to collect data from several locations while its battery lasts which is expected to be around 12 to 16 hours. The lander measures 0.3 by 0.3 by 0.2 meters in size with a mass of 10 Kilograms containing a number of subsystems including four instruments – a wide-angle camera, an imaging infrared spectrometer, a radiometer payload, and a magnetometer. Data from the instruments will significantly enhance the overall science return from the Hayabusa 2 mission, providing extensive in-situ data from the surface of an asteroid. The science payload has a mass of around 3 Kilograms.

Due to the lander’s limited mission timeline, thermal control can be accomplished with Multilayer Insulation and color coatings. Heaters are only used by the batteries and the spectrometer payload that have to be kept within survival temperature ranges during the cruise phase.

The lander is capable of receiving commands from Earth, relayed via the HY-2 spacecraft in case any intervention in the automated science sequence is needed due to any issues. Communications during cruise are accomplished through a Mechanical & Electrical Interface Antenna installed on the HY-2 spacecraft which eliminates the need for a hard-line data connection for cruise operations which include regular checkouts of the lander. The antennas operate at a frequency of 954 MHz using circular polarization. The link with HY-2 can be maintained up to a distance of 150 Kilometers achieving data rates of up to 16kbit/s, amounting to a total data volume of 0.7Gbit to be sent over the course of the lander’s mission.

The MASCOT lander uses two fully redundant Central Processing and Input/Output boards to ensure good control of the lander throughout its mission. The CPU boards use a LEON3FT processing unit that provides processing, reconfiguration and timing functions, data input/output and customization capabilities.

The CPU board also provides MRAM, SRAM and SDRAM. MASCOT uses a SpaceWire high-speed data bus and analog UART interfaces, all connected to the onboard computer by an FPGA-based input-output card. MASCOT’s control system includes an Autonomy Manager that is capable of autonomously controlling the entire surface mission of the lander to include as many sampling operations as possible.

An AOTF (Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter) is an electro-optical device that serves as an electronically tunable spectral bandpass filter with no moving parts. It uses a crystal in which Radio Frequency Waves are used to separate a single wavelength of light from a broadband source. The output wavelength is a function of the RF frequency that is applied to the crystal which can be varied.

Within the spectrometer, the AOTF acts as the monochromator. This design provides a number of advantages including long-term wavelength repeatability, extremely high wavelength purity, fast response to RF changes so that spectra can be recorded within seconds, high efficiency and long service life (no moving parts).

The spectral range and resolution of the instrument allows the identification of most potential constituents of the surface including silicates, oxides, salts, hydrated minerals, ices and frosts as well as organic compounds that are the focus of the entire mission to a C-type asteroid.

Images created by the cameras are thumbnail sized due to the low data speeds and MINERVA employs an onboard image processing tool that cuts any parts of a picture that do not contain a scene to minimize uplink volume. Surface temperature measurements at different locations and at different times of day are of great interest to scientists to better understand the energy balance of the asteroid and its surface material.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 mission dropped off its sample collection capsule before moving on to the next part of its extended mission: visiting more asteroids.

Hayabusa2 launched on December 3, 2014, and arrived at the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu in June 2018. The spacecraft collected one sample from the asteroid’s surface on February 22, 2019, then fired a copper “bullet” into the asteroid to create a 33-foot wide impact crater. A sample was collected from this crater on July 11, 2019.

The agency’s first Hayabusa mission returned samples from the asteroid Itokawa to Earth in June 2010, but scientists said that due to failure of the spacecraft’s sampling device, they were only able to retrieve micrograms of dust from the asteroid.

Since Hayabusa2 isn’t returning to Earth, it ejected the 35-pound sample return capsule as it swung by our planet at a distance of 136,701 miles. Then, the spacecraft changed its course to travel beyond Earth and move along with its extended mission.

“Just spotted #hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately not bright enough for handheld camera, but enjoyed watching capsule! Thanks Houston & Tsukuba for pointing information!!!”

Just spotted #hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately not bright enough for handheld camera, but enjoyed watching capsule! Thanks Houston & Tsukuba for pointing information!!!— NOGUCHI, Soichi 野口　聡一（のぐち　そういち） (@Astro_Soichi) December 5, 2020

The Australian government granted JAXA permission to land its capsule in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia. This remote area is used by Australia’s Department of Defence for testing.

Hayabusa2 will fly by three asteroids between 2026 and 2031, eventually reaching the rapidly rotating micro-asteroid 1998 KY26 in July 2031 millions of miles from Earth. It will be the first flyby of this type of asteroid.

“I anticipate that the Hayabusa2 samples of asteroid Ryugu will be very similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison, Victoria, more than 50 years ago,” said Trevor Ireland, professor in the Australian National University Research School of Earth Sciences and a member of the Hayabusa2 science team in Woomera, in a statement.

The NASA OSIRIS-REx mission recently collected a sample from another near-Earth asteroid, Bennu, that is similar in composition to Ryugu. In fact, based on early data from both missions, scientists working on both missions believe it’s possible these two asteroids once belonged to the same larger parent body before it was broken apart by an impact.

The sample returned by Hayabusa2 from asteroid Ryugu is compared with observations of the asteroid from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The results of this analysis have been published in the US scientific journal, “Science” on February 10 (EST).

Ryugu is a primitive asteroid rich in water and organic matter: A first look at the unprocessed carbonaceous asteroid sample returned by Hayabusa2, published in Nature Astronomy

Hayabusa2 re-entry capsule re-entered the atmosphere at around 2:28 a.m. on December 6, 2020 (JST). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) searched for the capsule by helicopter and located its landing site in WPA, Australia at 4:47 December 6, 2020 (JST).

It was confirmed from telemetry and Doppler data that Hayabusa2 re-entry capsule separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft as planned at 14:35 on December 5, 2020 (JST).

When the start of the second ion engine operation on May 12 was announced to Hayabusa2 project members overseas, they showered the local team with messages! As the current situation with the novel coronavirus is creating difficult times worldwide, we would like to share these encouraging replies that uplifted the team here in Japan.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has agreed to cooperate with Centre National d"Etudes Spatiales (CNES) on the study-phase activities in JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration(MMX) mission and analysis of Hayabusa2-returned samples.

Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA and Jean-Yves LE GALL, President of CNES signed the two Implementing Arrangements for MMX and Hayabusa2 cooperation on June 26, 2019.

The MMX mission is planned to observe Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos and to collect surface material from one of the moons to bring back to Earth. It aims to clarify the origin of the Martian moons and the process of evolution for Mars region and to improve technologies required for future exploration.

CNES will contribute to this mission by providing the near infrared spectrometer (MacrOmega) and the knowledge and expertise of the Flight Dynamics, as well as by conducting studies of rover which is to be equipped on MMX spacecraft jointly with German Aerospace Center (DLR).

About the Implementing Arrangement concerning cooperative activities related to analysis of Hayabusa2 return samples by MicrOmega at JAXA Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center

Hayabusa2 is a successor of Hayabusa. By investigating the asteroid Ryugu（type-C asteroid）and collecting samples for return to Earth, it aims to clarify the origins and evolution of Earth as well as organic materials that formed the oceans and the life.

At the beginning of the Hayabusa2 Project, realistic illustrations were drawn by Akihiro Ikeshita. These illustrations have now been revised to match the actual asteroid Ryugu.

From February 20 to 22, we conducted the touchdown operation (TD1-L8E1) of Hayabusa2 on the surface of asteroid Ryugu. Figure 1 shows an image taken with the Optical Navigation Camera – Wide angle (ONC-W1) during the spacecraft ascent after touchdown.

The Hayabusa2 Project has received messages of support from so many people. The encouragement and enthusiasm from you all for the mission has made the entire project team fired up and enthusiastic!

Up until now, the Hayabusa2 mission has progressed smoothly. One particular success was the landing of the small rovers on the surface of Ryugu, which could not be achieved during the first Hayabusa mission. Now on February 22, 2019, we plan to touchdown on the asteroid surface; another challenge that did not go as expected for Hayabusa.

On December 28 —the last day of work in 2018— the sampler team conducted an important experiment. As a final test before touchdown (TD), the team fired an identical bullet to that onboard Hayabusa2 into a simulated soil of the surface of Ryugu to test how much sample would be ejected.

Our Mission Manager, Makoto Yoshikawa, has been chosen by the science journal, Nature, as one of the "ten people who mattered in science this year" in "The 2018 Nature"s 10".

Until now, "astrodynamics" has been one of the less frequently reported operations for Hayabusa2. In space engineering, the movement, attitude, trajectory and overall handling of the flight mechanics of the spacecraft is referred to as "astrodynamics". For example, astrodynamics played an active role in the gravity measurement descent operation in August 2018. While this was a short time ago, let"s look at a few of the details.

From late November 2018 until the end of December, the solar conjunction operation is underway for Hayabusa2. Solar conjunction refers to the situation where the direction to the spacecraft almost overlaps with that to the Sun when viewed from the Earth. This is the same "conjunction" as in astronomy, whereby planets and stars appear to line up on the sky. During this time, communication with Hayabusa2 is disrupted due to radio waves emitted from the Sun and from its surrounding plasma. We therefore do not perform operations such as descending towards Ryugu during this period.

On September 21, 2018 (JST), the two MINERVA-II1 rovers (Rover-1A and Rover-1B) separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to land on the surface of asteroid Ryugu, where they successfully imaged and hopped across the asteroid surface autonomously. These two rovers have now been given names.

During the operation for Touchdown 1 Rehearsal 3 (TD1-R3), we attempted to capture images using CAM-H (small monitor camera) as the spacecraft approached the surface of Ryugu. CAM-H was manufactured and installed on Hayabusa2 by donations received from the general public and it is attached near the lower edge of the side of the spacecraft. The camera can photograph the tip of the sampler horn, but it can also capture the surrounding area and background.

Hayabusa2 arrived at asteroid Ryugu on June 27, after which the spacecraft remained at a distance of about 20km (the Home Position) to continue to observe the asteroid. During this time, the spacecraft was maintaining a hovering altitude of 20km above the asteroid surface.

The Bremen City Hall, Bremen, Germany houses on exhibit the JAXA asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, and MASCOT, the onboard lander MASCOT, developed by DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, English: The German Aerospace Center) and CNES (The Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, English: French National Centre for Space Studies). The City Hall, UNESCO World Heritage Site accommodates the exhibits July 10 through October 14.

At 9:35 am Japan Time, June 27, Hayabusa2 rendezvoused with Ryugu, the target asteroid. Keeping its 20-kilometer distance away from the asteroid, or its home position, Hayabusa2 is being confirmed of its function that performs future operations. MASCOT will land on the asteroid around October this year for observations of the surface using four instruments.

Brian May, the lead guitarist from the British rock band, Queen, has created a stereoscopic image of Ryugu from photographs captured with the ONC-T camera onboard Hayabusa2, so that the asteroid can be viewed in three dimensions. Brian May is an astronomer, with a doctoral degree in astrophysics from Imperial College London. He has a strong interest in planetary defense or space guard, which considers the potential threat to the Earth from meteorites. As part of this, May is a core member of "Asteroid Day", that began about three years ago to increase awareness of asteroids and action that can be taken to protect the Earth.

Hayabusa2 has fonally arrived at the target asteroid Ryugu. The arrival time was 9:35 am JST on June 27, 2018. From here, we can begin to fully explore Ryugu.

After the end of the ion engine operation on June 3, 2018, Hayabusa2 began the final asteroid approach phase. Optical navigation was used to precisely aim for the asteroid’s location. During the approach, the chemical propulsion thrusters were used to perform nine Trajectory Correction Maneuvers (TCM) to control the velocity of the spacecraft, with a tenth TCM made at the above time for arrival. After the final TCM10, the relative speed between Hayabusa2 and Ryugu was 1 cm/s or less and arrival at the asteroid was declared.

Hayabusa2 is close to arriving at asteroid Ryugu. After a journey of around 3.2 billion km since launch, our destination is finally near. Two small objects will soon meet in outer space 280 million km from the Earth.

Hayabusa2 is steadily approaching asteroid Ryugu. Figure 1 shows a photograph of Ryugu taken on June 13, 2018 with the ONC-T (Optical Navigation Camera-Telescopic) from a distance of about 920km. The celestial body shining brightly in the center of the frame is Ryugu. The movement of Ryugu (in comparison to the background stars) can be seen by comparing this image with those taken on June 6 and June 10. The brightness of Ryugu is now about -6.6 mag (astronomical magnitude: a logarithmic scale for the apparent brightness for an object).

The target asteroid of Hayabusa2 is (162173) Ryugu, 1999 JU3 in the provisional designation. Hayabusa2 will arrive at this asteroid in June - July 2018. In this summer, we have a opportunity to observe Ryugu, so we set up "Ryugu Observation Campaign" from July 1 to August 15, 2016. This is the last chance to observe Ryugu before Hayabusa2 arrives there.

The illustration of Hayabusa2 itself is the same but the name of the target asteroid was updated to RYUGU from its provisional designation 1999JU3. The background color was also changed to blue for showing Hayabusa2’s endeavor flying through space in the solar system toward RYUGU by leaving the near Earth orbit.

Before and after the Earth swing-by, the laser altimeter (LIDAR) on Hayabusa2 attempted to receive laser light from the satellite laser ranging (SLR) ground stations.

After the swing-by, the Mt. Stromlo station at SERC (Space Environment Research Centre Australia) in the suburbs of Canberra, Australia, transmitted laser light towards Hayabusa2. The spacecraft successfully received the beam using the onboard LIDAR that can send and recieve laser signals to accurately establish the range of objects from the spacecraft. At the time of the transmission from Mt. Stomlo, Hayabusa2 was 6,700,000 km from Earth. This success established the one-way "up link" of the optical connection.

In our previous post, we shared images of the Earth taken by Hayabusa2, as the spacecraft approached for the Earth swing-by. There, we showed the Earth from 09:00 JST (00:00 UT) through to 17:45 JST (08:45 UT). In this post, we extend the animation to show all the images that were taken of the Earth from the ONC-W2 camera during the Earth approach which runs to 18:30 JST (09:00 UT) (Figure 1). Figure 2 shows the images individually that comprise the animation, totaling 19 separate frames.

The Hayabusa2 took images of the Earth using its onboard Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) after the swing-by. You can see the Australian continent and Antarctica in the image. Meteorological satellites including the Himawari cannot take images of the Antarctic area hence the shot this time is precious.

JAXA performed an Earth swing-by operation of the "Hayabusa2" on the night of Dec 3 （Thu.）, 2015 （Japan Standard Time）. The "Hayabusa2 flew closest to the Earth at 7:08 p.m. （JST） and passed over the Pacific Ocean around the Hawaii islands at an altitude of about 3,090 km.

The Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” will fly near the Earth to perform an Earth swing-by utilizing the Earth’s gravity on Dec. 3 (Thur.) for its orbit control.

The Hayabusa2, which soared into space on Dec. 3, 2014, will coincidentally come close to the Earth on Dec. 3 (Thur.), 2015, to conduct the Earth swing-by. The explorer will fly closest to the Earth at around 7:07 p.m. on that day (Japan Standard Time).

After the swing-by, the Hayabusa2 will head to its target asteroid “Ryugu”. Your support for the mission will be very welcomed. We are waiting for your support messages to the explorer itself, project personnel, and the overall mission.

On Sept. 1 (Tue.) and 2 (Wed.), the ion engine of the Hayabusa2 was additionally operated in order to increase the orbit control accuracy for the Earth swing-by.

We will analyze telemetry data (data sent from the explorer to indicate its condition) in detail to confirm the status of the engine during the operation and orbit control before and after the emission.

JAXA is holding a naming proposal campaign to christen the asteroid “1999 JU3",which the Hayabusa2 is scheduled to visit in June or July 2018. Why don’t you try to become a godparent of the asteroid?

The Hayabusa2 is stably flying since its launch and smoothly continuing it interplanetary cruising. I can, therefore, take over the mission at the best condition from my predecessor, former Project Manager Hitoshi Kuninaka, who led the development of the project. With many operation experts joining the new team, we would like to successfully send the Hayabusa2 to the asteroid 1999JU3, and have it come home safely.

The Hayabusa2 mission is challenging an unexplored field. We would like to contribute to enhancing the value of technology, science and space exploration through our accomplishments in traveling through the solar system in this six-year mission.

At the beginning of this fiscal year, a multiple number of our project members including myself were subject to personnel changes. Our team worked well with good team spirit to tackle and overcome various obstacles and difficulties. Therefore, I felt a bit disappointed to see part of the team was shuffled. Having said that, those who remain in the team as well as the leaving members vow to work hard and do our best using our expertise in space projects no matter what department we are assigned to. Your continued support for the Hayabusa2 is very much appreciated.

Communication was successful between the Hayabusa2 and NASA DSN stations to establish deep-space Ka-band communication for the first time for a Japanese space explorer. Ka-band communication will be used to send observation data during the mission for the Hayabusa2 to stay near the asteroid.

The rocket flew smoothly, and, at about approximately one hour, 47 minutes and 21 seconds after liftoff, "Hayabusa2" was separated from the H-IIA F26.

It has been four years since the Hayabusa"s dramatic return from space,bringing back the world"s first samples from an asteroid. To further clarify the mystery of the origin and evolution of human beings, the Hayabusa2 is leaving for space. This video explains the special features and significance of the Hayabusa2 mission in an easy and simple manner.

JAXA will broadcast a live report of the Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2’s launch by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.26 (H-IIA F26) from the Tanegashima Space Center. The report will cover launch events from the liftoff to the payload separation from the launch vehicle.

The Hayabusa2 is the successor of the Hayabusa, which captured sample particles from an asteroid and returned to the Earth in 2010. By capitalizing on the experience of the Hayabusa, the Hayabusa2 aims at acquiring samples and bringing them back from the C-type asteroid "1999JU3" to elucidate the origin and evolution of the solar system and material for life.

Hayabusa2 applies a method to throw a metal projectile against the asteroid with high speed to create an artificial crater. Through the test this time, we confirmed the accelerating part of the projectile while aiming to verify if its speed, configuration, and thrown direction precision met the design when the pyrotechnics, which were comparable to those of actual ones for the flight, were ignited to set off the projectile.

JAXA has been conducting a campaign to attach names and messages of Hayabusa2 mission supporters from all over the world to the space probe! We would love to share this superb moment and feeling of achievement with you through this campaign.

All processes of the Hayabusa2"s first integration test since January this year were completed on June 7. The test aimed at installing all onboard devices onto the satellite structure and confirming interfaces among them. During the mass property measurement, the last process of the integration test, the "Hayabusa2" exposed its full shape for the first time with all devices for the test installed.

We will remove each device from the main body of the Hayabusa2, then the devices will be given their final touches. They will be tested again and assembled again to the explorer for the next-phase test. All the project team members will do our best as we have done to steadily implement the Hayabusa2 project.

Hayabusa2 is scheduled to be launched by the H-IIA launch vehicle in FY2014, then arrive at an asteroid in 2018 and investigate it for about one and half years, before returning to the earth in 2020.

On Dec. 26, the Hayabusa2 was revealed at the Sagamihara Campus. As its design was completed this spring, the Hayabusa2 will soon undergo the first integration test to confirm the interfaces among onboard devices as well as between the devices and the explorer’s bus after assembling them onto the bus. Also, the flight models of the Hayabusa2’s main body and solar array paddles have already been manufactured, thus those models will be verified through a vibration test. In addition, the exposed environment for the onboard devices will also be measured. JAXA is developing the Hayabusa2 to be ready for its launch in FY2014.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft"s Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) will land at a site in the asteroid Ryugu"s southern hemisphere dubbed MA-9, mission officials announced today (Aug. 23).

MA-9 won out over nine other finalists because it offered the best combination of scientific potential and accessibility, MASCOT team members said. [Japan"s Hayabusa2 Asteroid Sample-Return Mission in Pictures]

MA-9 features relatively fresh, pristine surface material that hasn"t been exposed to cosmic radiation for long compared to other parts of the 3,000-foot-wide (950 meters) asteroid, team members said. And Hayabusa2 will drop three small rovers onto patches of the space rock"s northern hemisphere, so a southern site for the 22-lb. (10 kilograms) MASCOT will give the mission greater coverage of the space rock, they added.

The $150 million Hayabusa2 mission launched in December 2014 and arrived at Ryugu on June 27 of this year. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will study the big asteroid from orbit for another 16 months and also drop down several times to grab samples of Ryugu material.

Meanwhile, MASCOT and the three tiny, hopping rovers — known as Minerva-II-1a, Minerva-II-1b and Minerva-II-2 — will gather a variety of information about the asteroid from its surface. (Minerva-I flew aboard Japan"s first asteroid-sampling mission, the original Hayabusa, which returned grains from the space rock Itokawa to Earth in 2010.)

Hayabusa2 isn"t the only asteroid-sampling project underway. NASA"s $800 million OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) mission is on its final approach toward the asteroid Bennu, and should arrive in orbit around the 1,650-foot-wide (500 m) rock this December. OSIRIS-REx"s samples are due to land on Earth in September 2023.

Both Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx aim to help scientists better understand asteroid composition and structure, the early history and evolution of the solar system, and the role space rocks may have played in helping life get a start on Earth.

Bringing pristine samples of asteroid material back to Earth will allow researchers to tackle such questions efficiently and effectively, team members from both missions have said. Scientists can perform many more experiments and investigations using well-equipped labs around the world than a robotic probe could conduct all by itself in deep space.

In December 2020, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped its treasure through the Earth’s atmosphere and onto the red dirt carpet of the South Australian desert. This package held the result of Hayabusa2’s 6-year, 5.24-billion-kilometre journey: five grams of dust and rock from the primordial asteroid Ryugu.

Excitingly, Hayabusa2 sampled two different parts of Ryugu: from on the surface and below the surface, picking up material that had never been exposed to the Vacuum of space.

This doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a large sample, especially when scientists estimated from images that Hayabusa2 had only grabbed a single gram. Even then, they were stoked about it.

In fact, the mission had only aimed to get a tenth of the gram. This far surpassed the only other asteroid sample ever returned to Earth, by the Hayabusa1 mission in 2010. It brought back just 1500 tiny dust grains, weighing less than a milligram in total.

Funnily enough, evidence for this comes from Earth. While the sample from Hayabusa2 is the first sample ever returned to Earth, asteroid samples rain down on us every day as meteorites. Scientists think that a type of meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites may have come from C-type asteroids.

“One of the aims of the Hayabusa 2 mission was to investigate the link between C-type asteroids and carbonaceous chondrites,” explains planetary scientist Monica Grady in an article in The Conversation.

The material also had a low density and a high porosity, which is surprising. Hayabusa2 had measured the asteroid itself to have a low density – an expected result, since an asteroid is basically a collection of rubble, with lots of spaces between the rocky components.

Hayabusa2 is a Japanese spacecraft that studied asteroid Ryugu, collected samples, and brought them to Earth for analysis. The spacecraft is on an extended mission to asteroid 1998 KY26.

Hayabusa2 is a Japanese spacecraft that explored asteroid Ryugu (162173) from June 2018 to November 2019. It dispatched a series of landers and a penetrator, and it collected multiple samples from the asteroid.

JAXA launched Hayabusa2 in December 2014 to collect samples from Ryugu. After arriving at the asteroid in June 2018, Hayabusa2 deployed two rovers and a small lander on the surface. Then, on Feb. 22, 2019, Hayabusa2 fired an impactor into the asteroid to create an artificial crater. This allowed the spacecraft to retrieve a sample beneath Ryugu’s surface.

This movie was taken on Feb. 22, 2019, (JST) when Hayabusa2 first touched down on asteroid Ryugu to collect a sample from the surface. It was captured using the onboard small monitor camera (CAM-H). The video playback speed is five times faster than the actual time. Credit: JAXA

On Dec. 6, 2020, Hayabusa2 delivered the asteroid sample to Earth. The spacecraft swooped by Earth to drop a landing capsule containing the asteroid sample. The capsule made a fiery entry through our planet’s atmosphere and parachuted to a soft landing inside the Woomera Range Complex in the South Australian outback. The spacecraft is now on an extended mission to a smaller asteroid, called 1998 KY26.

Both missions explored carbonaceous asteroids, which are thought to be the rocky building blocks of the early solar system. These asteroids could help scientists better understand how the solar system formed, and how life later emerged.

On Nov. 30, 2021, NASA received 23 millimeter-sized grains and 4 containers of even finer material from Ryugu – 10% of the total collected by Hayabusa2. A JAXA official and a JAXA scientist delivered the asteroid fragments to the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Hayabusa2 is a follow-up to Japan’s original Hayabusa mission, which was the first spacecraft to take samples from an asteroid, and was also the first mission to successfully land and take off from an asteroid. It returned samples from asteroid 25143 Itokawa to Earth on June 13, 2010.

On 3 December 2014, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 embarked on a sample return mission to the C-type asteroid (162173) Ryugu (formerly designated 1999 JU3). It is operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and carried the MASCOT (Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout) lander built by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in collaboration with the French Space Agency (CNES) and the Japanese space agency (JAXA). Hayabusa2 is the immediate follow-on mission of the Hayabusa mission, which saw the first probe return to Earth with samples taken from asteroid Itokawa in June 2010. At that time, the DLR Institute of Planetary Research also investigated the rare particles.

The aim of the Hayabusa2 mission is to learn more about the origin and evolution of the Solar System. Like comets, asteroids are some of the most primordial celestial bodies. Researching asteroids gives us a glimpse into our cosmic past. Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), such as Ryugu, also pose a potential threat to Earth and therefore need to be investigated to learn about and reduce their threat.

Hayabusa2 and MASCOT worked together as a team: Hayabusa2 provided the necessary data so that a suitable landing place could be found for MASCOT, whereas MASCOT carried out experiments on the asteroid"s surface and provided data on materials and the surrounding area to find a location to gather soil samples. For this, Hayabusa2 will lightly touch the asteroid"s surface in order to gather material, which it will then bring back to Earth.

The low gravitational force of the asteroid, which amounts to just one 60,000th of the gravitational force on Earth, presented a challenge for the mission. This force is insufficient to "pull" the lander out of the Hayabusa probe. As such, MASCOT was pushed out of its holder by a spring mechanism and fell to Ryugu from a height of approximately 60 metres. Had this happened too quickly, then MASCOT could have bounced off the asteroid"s surface. The lander"s "hopping" on the asteroid from site to site was programmed from start to finish so that it did not reach escape velocity. The escape velocity from Ryugu is calculated to be 38 centimetres per second. By way of comparison, the escape velocity from Earth is 11.2 kilometres per second, and that from the Moon is 2.3 kilometres per second.

The duo reached Ryugu on 27 June 2018. On 3 October 2018 at 03:58 (CEST) MASCOT separated from the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft, and landed and made contact wit Ryugu approximately 20 minutes later. MASCOT was operational for over 17 hours, during which it collected data from the asteroid"s surface. Hayabusa2 will return samples to Earth in 2020.

CNES contributed the power subsystem to MASCOT, as well as a part of the telecommunications system, which included the development of antennas, and the agency will assume responsibility for the descent and landing mission analyses.

TOKYO (AP) — A small capsule containing asteroid soil samples that was dropped from 136,700 miles (220,000 kilometers) in space by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft landed as planned in the Australian Outback on Sunday. After a preliminary inspection, it will be flown to Japan for research. The extremely high precision required to carry out the mission thrilled many in Japan, who said they took pride in its success. The project’s manager, Yuichi Tsuda of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, called the capsule a “treasure box.” The AP explains the significance of the project and what comes next.

Launched on Dec. 3, 2014, the unmanned Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down twice on the asteroid Ryugu, more than 300 million kilometers (190 million miles) away from Earth. The asteroid’s extremely rocky surface forced the mission’s team to revise landing plans, but the spacecraft successfully collected data and soil samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.

In its first touchdown in February 2019, the spacecraft collected surface dust samples, similar to NASA’s recent touch-and-go grab by Osiris REx on the asteroid Bennu. Hayabusa2 later blasted a crater into the asteroid’s surface and then collected underground samples from the asteroid, a first for space history. In late 2019, Hayabusa2 left Ryugu. That yearlong journey ended Sunday.

After about a year, some of the samples will be shared with NASA and other international scientists. About 40% of them will be stored for future research. JAXA mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa said just 0.1 gram of the sample can be enough to conduct the planned research, though he said more would be better.

Hayabusa2 is a successor of the original Hayabusa mission that Japan launched in 2003. After a series of technical setbacks, it sent back samples from another asteroid, Itokawa, in 2010. The spacecraft was burned up in a failed re-entry but the capsule made it to Earth.

Many Japanese were impressed by the first Hayabusa spaceship’s return, which was considered a miracle given all the troubles it encountered. JAXA’s subsequent Venus and Mars missions also were flawed. Tsuda said the Hayabusa2 team used all the hard lessons learned from the earlier missions to accomplish a 100 times better than “perfect” outcome. Some members of the public who watched the event shed tears as the capsule successfully entered the atmosphere, briefly flaring into a fireball.

About an hour after separating from the capsule at 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) from Earth, Hayabusa2 was sent on another mission to the smaller asteroid, 1998KY26. That is an 11-year journey one-way. The mission is to study possible ways to prevent big meteorites from colliding with Earth.

TOKYO (AP) — A small capsule containing asteroid soil samples that was dropped from 136,700 miles (220,000 kilometers) in space by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft landed as planned in the Australian Outback on Sunday. After a preliminary inspection, it will be flown to Japan for research. The extremely high precision required to carry out the mission thrilled many in Japan, who said they took pride in its success. The project’s manager, Yuichi Tsuda of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, called the capsule a “treasure box.” The AP explains the significance of the project and what comes next.

Launched on Dec. 3, 2014, the unmanned Hayabusa2 spacecraft touched down twice on the asteroid Ryugu, more than 300 million kilometers (190 million miles) away from Earth. The asteroid’s extremely rocky surface forced the mission’s team to revise landing plans, but the spacecraft successfully collected data and soil samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.

In its first touchdown in February 2019, the spacecraft collected surface dust samples, similar to NASA’s recent touch-and-go grab by Osiris REx on the asteroid Bennu. Hayabusa2 later blasted a crater into the asteroid’s surface and then collected underground samples from the asteroid, a first for space history. In late 2019, Hayabusa2 left Ryugu. That yearlong journey ended Sunday.

After about a year, some of the samples will be shared with NASA and other international scientists. About 40% of them will be stored for future research. JAXA mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa said just 0.1 gram of the sample can be enough to conduct the planned research, though he said more would be better.

Hayabusa2 is a successor of the original Hayabusa mission that Japan launched in 2003. After a series of technical setbacks, it sent back samples from another asteroid, Itokawa, in 2010. The spacecraft was burned up in a failed re-entry but the capsule made it to Earth.

Many Japanese were impressed by the first Hayabusa spaceship’s return, which was considered a miracle given all the troubles it encountered. JAXA’s subsequent Venus and Mars missions also were flawed. Tsuda said the Hayabusa2 team used all the hard lessons learned from the earlier missions to accomplish a 100 times better than “perfect” outcome. Some members of the public who watched the event shed tears as the capsule successfully entered the atmosphere, briefly flaring into a fireball.

About an hour after separating from the capsule at 220,000 kilometers (136,700 miles) from Earth, Hayabusa2 was sent on another mission to the smaller asteroid, 1998KY26. That is an 11-year journey one-way. The mission is to study possible ways to prevent big meteorites from colliding with Earth.

Hayabusa-2 is JAXA"s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) follow-on mission to the Hayabusa mission, the country"s first round-trip asteroid mission that sent the Hayabusa (MUSES-C) spacecraft to retrieve samples of asteroid Itokawa. The initial Hayabusa mission launched in May 2003 and reached Itokawa in 2005; it returned samples of Itokawa — the first asteroid samples ever collected in space — in June 2010. Hayabusa means "falcon" in Japanese.

The objective of the Hayabusa-2 sample return mission is to visit and explore the C-type asteroid 1999 JU3, a space body of about 920 m in length and of particular interest to researchers, because it consists of 4.5 billion-year-old material that has been altered very little. Measurements taken from Earth suggest that the asteroid’s rock may have come into conta