Japanese mission reaches far-off asteroid

Japanese mission reaches far-off asteroid

News:

1. A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid 300 million km away to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origin of life.

Important facts:

2. The Hayabusa2 probe successfully settled into an observation position 20 km above the Ryugu asteroid.

3. The mission came just days before the UN’s International Asteroid day on June 30, global event to raise awareness about the hazards of an asteroid impact and technological progress to counter such a threat.

4. Photos of Ryugu — which means “Dragon Palace” in Japanese, a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale — show an asteroid shaped a bit like a spinning top with a rough surface.

5. Mission:

• The probe will bring back samples to shed light on the origin of life on the earth.
• Hayabusa2 will start exploring the asteroid over the coming 18 months, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
• The next stage is to identify suitable sites to take samples from once the probe touches down on the asteroid.