Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe sends tiny hopping robots towards massive asteroid
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit

Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe sends tiny hopping robots towards massive asteroid

Agence France-Presse • September 21, 2018, 17:43:55 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

If successful, the rovers will conduct the first moving, robotic study of an asteroid surface.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Choose
Firstpost on Google
Choose
Firstpost on Google
Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe sends tiny hopping robots towards massive asteroid

A Japanese space probe Friday, 21 September, released a pair of exploring rovers towards an egg-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. The ‘Hayabusa2’ probe jettisoned the round, cookie tin-shaped robots toward the Ryugu asteroid, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). If the mission is successful, the rovers will conduct the world’s first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface. Taking advantage of the asteroid’s low gravity, they will jump around on the surface — soaring as high as 15 metres and staying in the air for as long as 15 minutes — to survey the asteroid’s physical features with cameras and sensors. So far so good, but JAXA must wait for the Hayabusa2 probe to send data from the rovers to Earth in a day or two to assess whether the release has been a success, officials said. “We are very much hopeful. We don’t have confirmation yet, but we are very, very hopeful,” Yuichi Tsuda, JAXA project manager, told reporters. “I am looking forward to seeing pictures. I want to see images of space as seen from the surface of the asteroid,” he said.

The cautious announcement came after a similar JAXA probe in 2005 released a rover which failed to reach its target asteroid. Next month, Hayabusa2 will deploy an “impactor” that will explode above the asteroid, shooting a two-kilo (four-pound) copper object into the surface to blast a crater a few metres in diameter. From this crater, the probe will collect “fresh” materials unexposed to millennia of wind and radiation, hoping for answers to some fundamental questions about life and the universe, including whether elements from space helped give rise to life on Earth. The probe will also release a French-German landing vehicle named Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) for surface observation. Hayabusa2, about the size of a large fridge and equipped with solar panels, is the successor to JAXA’s first asteroid explorer, Hayabusa — Japanese for falcon. That probe returned from a smaller, potato-shaped, asteroid in 2010 with dust samples despite various setbacks during its epic seven-year odyssey and was hailed a scientific triumph. The Hayabusa2 mission was launched in December 2014 and will return to Earth with its samples in 2020.

Tags
Japan Space space probe JAXA Hayabusa2 SciTwch Ryugu astroid Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout
  • Home
  • Tech
  • science
  • Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe sends tiny hopping robots towards massive asteroid
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Tech
  • science
  • Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe sends tiny hopping robots towards massive asteroid
End of Article

Top Stories

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Enjoying the news?

Get the latest stories delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV