Japanese ‘jumping’ rovers land on asteroid Ryugu

The Japanese space agency JAXA has successfully landed two small rovers on the Ryugu asteroid. The two small machines can move with small jumps, and can also take pictures of the surface.

On the website of the project, the Japanese space agency announces that the landing has been successfully completed. The first photos taken from the surface of the asteroid were also sent. For now, these are a number of blurry photos taken while the robbers were moving, or spinning around on landing. The intention is that the so-called Minerva II1 rovers will collect even more data and send back images in the near future.

The two rovers were launched from the space probe Hayabusa2, which launched nearly four years ago and then headed for the 1999 JU3 Ryugu, a Type C asteroid. On Friday, the two small robbers were released from the Hayabusa2, and a probe is yet to be placed on Ryugu; the German mascot.

In addition, the probe itself will also land on the asteroid, firing a number of projectiles to create dust clouds. This should make it possible to take a sample of the asteroid, which can then be taken back to Earth. The intention is that Hayabusa2 will return to our planet in 2020. In total, about a year and a half of data is collected from the asteroid.