Japan launches Asteroid Mission to Blow up a Space Rock. Japan Aerospace Agency JAXA’s asteroid-exploring Hayabusa2 probe successfully blasted off on Wednesday. The spacecraft will study the asteroids surface before blowing up a portion of the space rock. Hayabusa2 will collect material from an asteroid called 1999 JU3. JAXA says the asteroid is C-type (carbonaceous) — a rocky asteroid whose rocks might contain organic matter and water. Hayabusa2 is expected to reach the asteroid in 2018. Its slated to return to Earth near the end of 2020. By studying materials from a C-type asteroid, JAXA says it aims to learn about the origin of life on Earth. That’s because many of the organic materials here on our planet may be “strongly connected” to those found on asteroids. Hayabusa2 also has some friends on board. The probe will drop three rovers and a small lander onto the asteroid to study its surface. What makes this particular mission interesting is the fact that JAXA plans to blow up a part of the asteroid, creating a crater, after which Hayabusa2 will be able to collect material from the underground, not just the surface. This is Japan’s second mission to an asteroid. Back in 2010, Hayabusa returned to Earth with samples from an S-type, or siliceous asteroid. JAXA says it’s made several improvements to its asteroid-exploring spacecraft since then. For one, it changed the design of its antennas in order to reduce the weight of the spacecraft. The agency also made improvements to the spacecraft’s ion propulsion system — it uses one tenth the power of a similar chemical-propellant engine. Last month, the European Space Agencys Rosetta mission successfully attached the first robot to a comet speeding through space at 40,000 mph. youtu.be/OR-vN1xyfF0
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 16:32:56 +0000
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