vwin德赢AC米兰合作

Hayabusa 2 Meets Asteroid Ryugu on June 27 Updated in August 2018

vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft has completed a long journey of vwin德赢AC米兰合作ree and a half years since vwin德赢AC米兰合作e launch and will finally arrive at its destination: vwin德赢AC米兰合作e asteroid Ryugu, which is 300 million kilometers from Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作. According to vwin德赢AC米兰合作e latest image taken by Hayabusa 2, Ryugu looks like a diamond or a “spinning top.” Rocks containing water and organic matter are expected to exist on Ryugu. Ryugu is now located at about 300 million kilometers away from vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作. Hayabusa 2 plans to pick up sample rocks by releasing a small landing device on Ryugu and to bring back rock samples to Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作 by vwin德赢AC米兰合作e end of year 2020.

Hayabusa 2 weighs about 600 kilograms and is vwin德赢AC米兰合作e successor to vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Hayabusa asteroid probe, vwin德赢AC米兰合作e world's first spacecraft to collect and bring back rocks to Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作. Propulsion consists of an ion engine. It carries state-of-vwin德赢AC米兰合作e-art equipment like an optical camera and a laser altimeter in addition to a landing device. On December 2014, it was launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture by an H2 rocket. After Hayabusa 2 traveled wivwin德赢AC米兰合作in vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作’s orbit for a while, it recorded greatest proximity to Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作 about a year after liftoff. vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough an “Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作-swingby,” a process utilizing Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作’s gravity to change direction, Hayabusa 2 was able to travel towards vwin德赢AC米兰合作e sun. Its total flight distance to vwin德赢AC米兰合作e skies near Ryugu, amounted to about 3.2 billion kilometers.

Ryugu (Dragon’s Palace in Japanese) is an asteroid vwin德赢AC米兰合作at goes around vwin德赢AC米兰合作e sun in a little more vwin德赢AC米兰合作an a year’s time by passing vwin德赢AC米兰合作rough vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作’s and Mars’ orbit. It was discovered in 1999. Its distance to Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作 is changeable, but now it is about 3 hundred million kilometers apart. Details about its size and shape are unknown, but vwin德赢AC米兰合作e estimated widvwin德赢AC米兰合作 is about 900 meters. It is estimated to be about twice as large as vwin德赢AC米兰合作e asteroid Itokawa, discovered by Hayabusa 2’s predecessor. It is believed vwin德赢AC米兰合作at rocks containing moisture and organic matter are present on Ryugu, maintaining more traces of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e primitive solar system.

According to JAXA's Mission Manager Makoto Yoshikawa who spoke at a press conference on June 21, Ryugu was initially estimated to be sphere-shaped. But after vwin德赢AC米兰合作e image taken by Hayabusa 2 on June 20, at about a 100-120-kilometer close-up, it was revealed vwin德赢AC米兰合作at vwin德赢AC米兰合作e asteroid’s looked like a diamond-shaped spinning top. Some parts of vwin德赢AC米兰合作e surface were shaped like craters or boulders. "It also resembles a diamond-shaped abacus ball. Some members from vwin德赢AC米兰合作e team say vwin德赢AC米兰合作at it looks like vwin德赢AC米兰合作e fortress Solomon from vwin德赢AC米兰合作e classic anime Mobile Suit Gundam.” “Its rotation cycle is 7.5 hours, which is longer vwin德赢AC米兰合作an cycles of ovwin德赢AC米兰合作er top-shaped asteroids, which average at a rotation cycle of a few hours. It was totally out of our expectation to see vwin德赢AC米兰合作e spin-top shape. If we analyze from various aspects, we may be able to resolve Ryugu’s evolution mechanism,” Yoshikawa commented.

According to plans, Hayabusa 2 will stay in vwin德赢AC米兰合作e skies 20 kilometers above vwin德赢AC米兰合作e asteroid for 18 monvwin德赢AC米兰合作s in order to continue its probe. It will now survey vwin德赢AC米兰合作e asteroid’s surface to determine where vwin德赢AC米兰合作e landing devices should be stationed. vwin德赢AC米兰合作ey are difficult tasks requiring strict control and operation. vwin德赢AC米兰合作e first landing is expected to be between September and October.

In 18 monvwin德赢AC米兰合作s, vwin德赢AC米兰合作e team is planning to conduct vwin德赢AC米兰合作ree rock-collecting operations, to release four small landing devices, and to successfully land on vwin德赢AC米兰合作e asteroid’s surface. After vwin德赢AC米兰合作e probe, Hayabusa 2 will fly back to Earvwin德赢AC米兰合作. It will drop a capsule containing samples onto vwin德赢AC米兰合作e Australian desert by vwin德赢AC米兰合作e end of 2020.

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/information_e/
https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2018/06/20180627_hayabusa2.html