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Japanese Asteroid Lander makes it back

lpetrich

lpetrich

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Previous thread:
Japanese Spacecraft Rovers land on an Asteroid

The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 -  Hayabusa2 - was launched on 2014 Dec 3 from Tanegeshima Space Center in Japan a little south of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four big islands.

It flew by the Earth on 2015 Dec 3 and reached asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 2018 Jun 27. It then deployed some rovers and a lander, and then landed on the asteroid to pick up a sample. It then deployed a small gun which then shot a bullet into the asteroid to expose subsurface material, and landed a second time to pick up material from that impact. On 2019 Nov, it departed from the asteroid and headed back to the Earth.

It released its sample-return capsule shortly before flying by the Earth, and on 2020 Dec 5, that capsule landed on Woomera Test Range in SE Australia.
The asteroid is a carbonaceous chondrite, one likely to have lots of organic compounds, including prebiotic ones.


Hayabusa 2 is now headed to asteroid 1998 KY26, and it will fly by the Earth 2 times and fly by asteroid 2001 CC21 en route to that asteroid.
 
In the meantime, NASA spacecraft  OSIRIS-REx reached asteroid 101955 Bennu.

Previous thread:
OSIRIS-REx at asteroid Bennu
(didn't get to sample collection)

On 2020 Oct 20, the spacecraft collected a sample of the asteroid by extending a mechanical arm with a collector head on its end, and then slowly traveling to the asteroid. When the collector head reached the asteroid, it collected the sample, and when that was done, the spacecraft departed. The spacecraft was then commanded to take pictures of the collector head, to get an idea of what it had collected, and then to stow that part in the re-entry capsule.
The spacecraft is scheduled to depart from the asteroid on 2021 March, and to make it home 2023 September.


Home pages:
 
hyzer said:
lpetrich said:
Feast your eyes on the space rocks Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission harvested from asteroid Ryugu | TechCrunch
noting
Images of the samples from Ryugu | TOPICS | JAXA Hayabusa2 Project

With lots of pictures.
Click to expand...

Really - what's with that caption "Artificial object"?
Click to expand...
It says:

Artificial material seems to be present in chamber C. The origin is under investigation, but a probable source is aluminium scraped off the spacecraft sampler horn as the projectile was fired to stir up material during touchdown.
Click to expand...
 
Shadowy Man said:
It says:

Artificial material seems to be present in chamber C. The origin is under investigation, but a probable source is aluminium scraped off the spacecraft sampler horn as the projectile was fired to stir up material during touchdown.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I just think there had to be a better term than artificial. Even something like "non-asteroid material" . . .
 
I should mention the plan for the two asteroid flybys.
  • December 2020: Extension mission start
  • 2021 until July 2026: cruise operation
  • July 2026: L-type asteroid 2001 CC21 high-speed fly-by
  • December 2027: Earth swing-by
  • June 2028: Second Earth swing-by
  • July 2031: Target body (1998 KY26) rendezvous
The spacecraft is also planned to do observations of exoplanets. Presumably transit ones.
 
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