In order to collect the sample, the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft lowered its orbit down until it was just short of the surface of the asteroid. Then it fired a “bullet” called the carry-on impactor ...

Let's fire a bullet at an asteroid. This might sound like a plot point from a sci-fi show, but it's about to become reality when Japan's space agency JAXA directs its Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to go ...

JAXA Hayabusa 2 Ryugu landing artists conception JAXA Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe recently touched down on asteroid Ryugu and collected a sample from this rock orbiting between Earth and Mars. Now ...

The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa 2 has successfully pulled off a second touchdown on the surface of the distant asteroid Ryugu. The risky maneuver saw the probe dive down to collect material that ...

JAXA doesn’t have a way to measure how much material Hayabusa-2 collected. However, the agency says that every maneuver went according to plan and that Hayabusa-2 issued the command to shoot its ...

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released footage of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft descending and making contact with the primordial asteroid Ryugu. During the rendezvous, the probe ...

JAXA's Hayabusa 2 mission plans to pull off a daredevil stunt of touching an asteroid, picking up a sample of the surface and bringing it back to Earth in late 2020. But there's a small hitch in ...

Now, as JAXA prepares for the most daring maneuver of the entire mission — a touchdown that will allow Hayabusa-2 to snag a sample of the rock’s surface before heading back to Earth — the ...

As JAXA explains, the video here is a sped-up version of the events that took place on July 11th. The video covers roughly eight minutes in just 30 seconds, showing the Hayabusa-2 probe slowly ...

Still, Hayabusa, according to JAXA, broke a world record for the longest operation of an ion engine, the source of most of the mission’s problems.

Hayabusa-2 first rendezvoused with Ryugu in June of last year after a 3.5-year journey. Over the last several months, the spacecraft has been circling the asteroid and surveying its surface.

Ryugu seen by Hayabusa 2. JAXA/Hayabusa 2, CC BY-SA Ryugu could tell us a lot about the Solar System’s history.