Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe arrives at strange 'Dragon Palace' asteroid 187 million miles away in search for origin of life

  • A Japanese probe reached an asteroid 187 million miles away after three years
  • The Hayabusa2 probe traveled to the Ryugu asteroid and settled 12 miles above to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origins of life
  • Will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside
  • Probe will stay with asteroid for 18 months before heading back to Earth

A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid around 187 million miles away to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origin of life after a more than three-year voyage through deep space.

The Hayabusa2 probe successfully settled into an observation position 12 miles above the Ryugu asteroid, officials from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Wednesday.

Researchers broke out into cheers when the probe arrived in place, a feat JAXA described as 'shooting from Japan at a six centimeter target in Brazil'.

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This computer graphics image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows an asteroid and asteroid explorer Hayabusa2. The Japanese space explorer that will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside is nearing its destination after a 3 1/2 -year journey. The unmanned Hayabusa2 has arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth.

This computer graphics image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows an asteroid and asteroid explorer Hayabusa2. The Japanese space explorer that will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside is nearing its destination after a 3 1/2 -year journey. The unmanned Hayabusa2 has arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth.

WHAT IS THE RYUGU ASTEROID?

The asteroid, named Ryugu (Dragon Palace) after an undersea palace in a Japanese folktale, is about 900 meters (3,000 feet) in diameter. 

In photos released by JAXA, the Japanese space agency, it appears more cube-shaped than round. 

A number of large craters can be seen, which Project Manager Yuichi Tsuda said in an online post makes the selection of landing points 'both interesting and difficult.' 

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Over the next year and a half, the robotic explorer will attempt three brief touch-and-go landings to collect samples. 

If the retrieval and the return journey are successful, the asteroid material could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

'Today, we are at the beginning of a space science exploration that is unprecedented for humankind,' project manager Yuichi Tsuda told reporters.

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

Scientists hope to glean clues about what gave rise to life on Earth from samples taken from Ryugu, which is thought to contain relatively large amounts of organic matter and water.

The next stage is to identify suitable sites to take samples from once the probe touches down on the asteroid, scientist Seiichiro Watanabe said.

Hayabusa2 will spend about two months looking for suitable landing places on the uneven surface. 

Because of the high surface temperature, it will stay for only a few seconds each time it lands. 

The very first close-up view of a dice-shaped asteroid dubbed Ryugu has been snapped 175 million miles (280 million km) from Earth. The stunning photograph, taken from a distance of just 25 miles (40km), shows for the first time the intricate details of surface features

The very first close-up view of a dice-shaped asteroid dubbed Ryugu has been snapped 175 million miles (280 million km) from Earth. The stunning photograph, taken from a distance of just 25 miles (40km), shows for the first time the intricate details of surface features

Any samples would be sent back in a re-entry capsule that is due to arrive at the end of 2020. 

The first touchdown is planned for September or October. 

Before the final touchdown, scheduled for April or May, Hayabusa2 will send out a squat cylinder that will detonate above the asteroid, shooting a 2-kilogram (4.4-pound) copper projectile into it at high speed to make a crater.

WHAT WILL THE HAYABUSA2 SPACE PROBE DO? 

Hayabus2 was launched on December 3, 2014 and arrived above the Ryugu asteroid three years later.

It's mission is to gather information about the origin of life, and it has fur primary missions:

1. It will will perform detailed observations of asteroids using multi band visible camera, laser altimeter, near infrared spectrometer, and a mid infrared camera

Left: A MINERVA II rover to deliver imagery and temperature measurements. Right: The mother ship observing the artificial crater

2. It will then send down a MINERVA II rover to deliver imagery and temperature measurements. 

3. An impactor device will use high-explosives to generate a high-speed impact that is hoped to expose material from under the asteroid’s surface for collection by Hayabusa2

4. The probe will then return to Earth and send a Return Capsule for re-entry with the samples for analysis

To collect its samples, it will release an 'impactor' that will explode above the asteroid, shooting a two kilo (four pound) copper object into the surface to excavate a crater a few meters in diameter. Right: The mother ship touches down near the artificial crater and attempts to sample the underground material. Left: The probe observing the aesteroid

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Hayabusa2 will hide on the other side of the asteroid to protect itself during the operation and wait another two to three weeks to make sure any debris that could damage the explorer has cleared. 

It will then attempt to land at or near the crater to collect underground material that was blown out of the crater, in addition to the surface material from the earlier touchdowns.

The probe was launched in 2014. ts total flight time was 1,302 days and it cruised 3.2 billion kilometres through space on a circuitous route to get to its target

The probe was launched in 2014. ts total flight time was 1,302 days and it cruised 3.2 billion kilometres through space on a circuitous route to get to its target

In this Aug. 31, 2014, photo, asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 is displayed to media by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at its facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. The Japanese space explorer that will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside is nearing its destination after a 3 1/2 -year journey. The unmanned Hayabusa2 has arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth

In this Aug. 31, 2014, photo, asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 is displayed to media by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at its facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. The Japanese space explorer that will try to blow a crater in an asteroid and bring back samples from inside is nearing its destination after a 3 1/2 -year journey. The unmanned Hayabusa2 has arrived at the asteroid Wednesday, June 27, 2018, about 280 million kilometers (170 million miles) from Earth

The spacecraft will also deploy three rovers that don't have wheels but can hop around on the surface of the asteroid to conduct probes. 

Hayabusa2 will also send a French-German-made lander to study the surface with four observation devices.

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.

The Hayabusa2 probe was in good shape and now ready to start exploring the asteroid over the coming 18 months, JAXA said.

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 as a scientific triumph.

The Hayabusa2 mission costs 30 billion yen ($274 million) and the probe was launched in December 2014. 

It will stay with the asteroid for 18 months before heading back to Earth with its samples.

Its total flight time was 1,302 days and it cruised 3.2 billion kilometres through space on a circuitous route to get to its target, Tsuda told reporters.

To collect its samples, it will release an 'impactor' that will explode above the asteroid, shooting a two kilo (four pound) copper object into the surface to excavate a crater a few meters 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 observe the surface with its camera and sensing equipment but will also drop tiny MINERVA-II rover robots as well as a French-German landing package named Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) for surface observation.

STUDYING THE ASTEROID RYUGU WILL HELP SCIENTISTS UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Jaxa's Hayabusa Two probe visited the ancient asteroid Ryugu in a bid to help scientists better understand the origins of the solar system.

The probe launched in December 2014 and arrived at the dice-shaped space rock on June 27, 2018, bringing samples back to Earth in December 2020. 

The probe was loaded with four surface landers, an array of cameras and even an explosive device that dug out subsurface rock samples.

Ryugu, a Type C asteroid, contains traces of water and organic material and it is hoped that analysing this material will reveal what the early conditions were like at the time the solar system formed around 4.6 billion years ago.