Hayabusa - Well, it's back

[Channel Hopper]

Landed in the outback, but a brilliant exploration nonetheless.

A time-line

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa

 

[Topper]

Hope they took it to quarantine before passport control

 

[Channel Hopper]

Some spectacular footage of the final few moments of the mission

[tube]NoSpRoGNr5M[/tube]

Not much room in there for any vampire aliens.

(leading neatly to gratuitous nude shot of vampire alien)

 

[Channel Hopper]

Hayabusa 2 was supposedly a couple of weeks from grabbing a nice bit of foreign object (ooerrrr !), but it might not be.

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=2014-076A


How could JAXA not know when Hayabusa2 will arrive at asteroid Ryugu?

 

[Channel Hopper]

It might have got there already and found it's worth more

Planetary Resources speculates that the current value of the asteroid for mining purposes as of July 2016 is $95.02 billion.

French site

Ryugu en ligne de mire de Hayabusa 2

 

[Channel Hopper]

The imagery to date.

Topics

 

[Channel Hopper]

Asteroid 1999 JU3

Asteroid Ryugu (originally 1999 JU3) is a Near Earth Asteroid with a semi-major axis of 1.19 AU and an orbital eccentricity of 0.19, which puts its perihelion near Earth's orbit and its aphelion near Mars'. The asteroid is roughly spherical (axis ratio approximately 1.3 : 1.1 : 1.0) with an effective diameter of 875 meters and a rotation period of 7.6 hours. It is a C-Type (carbonaceous) asteroid, expected to be relatively rich in organic compounds.


Mission spec and potential yield

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/geochemj/48/6/48_2.0350/_pdf

 

[Channel Hopper]

Nine days to go, images now show it as ' a rock'.

'Dumpling' space rock comes into view

 

[Channel Hopper]

25 miles away, and it's cuboid.

HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) on Twitter

 

[Channel Hopper]

Parked off the starboard bow.

(some of the 'rocks' have moved........ .)



Japanese spacecraft reaches asteroid after three-and-a-half-year journey – Spaceflight Now

 

[s-band]

I can't hear it but does anyone else want to try?
https://uhf-satcom.com/dsn/hayabusa2
It's high in the sky during the day and only 1.9AU away.

 

[Channel Hopper]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1012921367598157824

 

[Channel Hopper]

One would have thought Mr May was more 'up with the times'.

2018/07/04 What's new?

Where are the latest images ?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Taking the biscuit

 

[Channel Hopper]

Dates set for multiple landings

Dates set for touchdown on an asteroid

 

[Channel Hopper]

Death Star

https://www.inquisitr.com/5061122/asteroid-ryugu-resembles-the-death-star-in-new-photo-from-the-hayabusa-2-mission

 

[PaulR]

Nah, it's just not big enough.

 

[Channel Hopper]

 

[Analoguesat]

Its going to be interesting to see if the bounce around hoppers perform properly on such a boulder strewn surface.

 

[Channel Hopper]

On their way, no positive feedback yet.

Are Japanese Hopping Robots Safe on Asteroid Ryugu?