Japanese space probe has fired a projectile at asteroid with explosives
JAXA successfully descended a module from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to Ryugu and fired a projectile at the asteroid with an explosive device. The purpose of this is to create a crater where the probe can land to collect material from the interior.
The Japanese space agency JAXA has two photos published of the impact with the so-called Small Carry-on Impactor, one of the modules of the Hayabusa2 probe. The photos show the module’s ejector impacting Ryugu’s surface; it was fired at the asteroid by a plastic explosive in the module. The module has a mass of 9.6 kg and the copper plate was fired at the asteroid at 2 kilometers per second due to the detonation. It is estimated that this creates a crater about ten meters wide.
According to JAXA, this is the first time such a “collision experiment” has been conducted with an asteroid. The two published photos were taken with a special DCAM3 robotic camera disconnected from the spacecraft. recorded for four hours. According to JAXA, the footage from this camera will provide a wealth of information for new, future scientific studies.
During the recent explosive crater operation, Hayabusa2 maneuvered to the other side of the asteroid for safety. The intention is that the spacecraft will once again land on the asteroid to pick up the material from the crater and take it back to Earth. The probe is expected to arrive here in December 2020. The Japanese space agency also has an English-language website on which the live status of the probe can be followed.
Hayabusa2, which launched in December 2014 and took about three and a half years to travel to asteroid 1999 JU3 Ryugu, already landed several landers on the asteroid last year. Then, in February, a projectile from Hayabusa2 was successfully fired at the asteroid, after which the probe landed to pick up material. That landing feat will soon be repeated by the spacecraft.
The uncoupled SCI module and below it the two photos of the impact, where an enlargement has been made.