Asteroid-assaulting spacecraft to take 10-year cruise to a new space rock
Japan's Hayabusa 2 is just getting started after tagging and pickpocketing one small celestial body.
- Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
An illustration of Hayabusa 2
Japan's Hayabusa 2 successfully shot the asteroid Ryugu with a specially designed bullet in 2019 before briefly landing on it to scoop up some of the disturbed gravel. The sample will be returned to Earth, with a planned landing in Australia this December. But now the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) is sending the spacecraft on a long voyage to another target.
After dropping off the sample of Ryugu at Earth, Hayabusa 2 will set a course for another asteroid: 1998 KY26, which is a spherical rock with a diameter a little larger than a tennis court.
The target for the extended mission that Hayabusa2 will explore after returning the capsule to Earth has reached the final choice: 1998 KY26 is an asteroid ~30m in size with a rotation period of ~10.7 minutes. More information is in the press briefing: https://t.co/vsM0vl7xZ0 pic.twitter.com/w1XrVW1CJQ
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 18, 2020
This asteroid's orbit takes it between the orbits of Venus and Mars, meaning it's relatively close to Earth, but Hayabusa 2 will take a somewhat roundabout path to visit it.
As JAXA announced at a press conference Tuesday, the spacecraft will spend about five years between 2021 and 2026 or 2027 in a sort of long-term cruise control before performing a fly-by of another asteroid, 2001 CC21. It will then make a few swings by Earth in preparation for a mid-2031 arrival at 1998 KY26 where it will check out the fast-rotating micro asteroid and mission planners will weigh the possibility of trying to land on it.
No word yet on if Hayabusa 2 will try and shoot 1998 KY26 as well, but it seems likely that the spacecraft is all out of ammunition at this point.