The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) has delay the touchdown of the primary section of the Hayabusa2 probe on the asteroid Ryugu from this calendar month until January 2019,Nature reported , after mission scientists settle that the Ryugu ’s airfoil is rougher than expected and the landing place needs more planning meter .
While Hayabusa2 carry a number of smaller rovers , some of which have already been deploy to Ryugu ’s surface , the mothership of the craft involve to have-to doe with down on the asteroid ’s surface to collect samples . According to Nature , JAXA scientist have determined that there are few web site on the asteroid decipherable of boulders , and the best one is very tiny :
For the sample distribution - solicitation phase , the undertaking team had been hoping to identify a region at least 100 metres broad that would be relatively boulder - detached — meaning without rock higher than 50 centimetres . Otherwise , high bowlder might strike the main trunk of the craft as it deploys its 1 - metre arm to hoard a sample , a JAXA statement says .
But detailed maps of the surface have shown that the best such area is only about 20 metres full . The authority now desire to make certain that it can collide with such a narrow quarry on the rotating surface .
Hayabusa2 will collect samples via a variety of methods ; the first run , which is the delayed filiation in question , will be conducted by flying the cunning to the aerofoil to fire a tantalum heater into Ryugu . After that , sluttish stuff will be collected by a try horn and the craft willfire its thrustersto escape the asteroid ’s surface . A concluding sample collection schedule for 2019 will involve give the sack a kinetic impactor towards the asteroid from a distance andremotely detonating a shaped chargewithin . ( According toPopular Science , the 10 kg of explosive within will enkindle a pig disk into Ryugu in a manner similar to military anti - tank weapons ) . After drop about two week avoiding detritus from the impactor , it will descend to the surface to pile up sampling from the impingement site .
“ Although the spacecraft can be assure with a billet error of 10 meters at an height down to 50 meters , there remains the question of whether this accuracy can be retained as the ballistic capsule descends to the control surface , ” JAXA told Nature in a statement . However , JAXA mission director Makoto Yoshikawa of the agency ’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara say the diary that the delay is not expected to move Hayabusa2 ’s return date to Earth in 2020 , so that ’s good .
According to Nature , JAXA will conduct a dry run in October to aver whether the craft is open of descending to the control surface safely :
JAXA say they will be performing a touchdown rehearsal from 14 - 16 October , let down the craft to an ALT of about 25 metres — the lowest to date — to test the investigation ’s ALT measurements at brusque distances .
One penny-pinching approach by Hayabusa2 , coming within 82 ft ( 25 meter ) , wasalready conducted this week .
Hayabusa-2 pose to within 35 m of Ryugu this morning before commence its ascent .
— Jonathan McDowell ( @planet4589)October 15 , 2018
[ TD1 - R1 - A ] This rehearsal also successfully essay the EL range measurement from the LRF.・Lowest elevation arrival time : October 15 at 22:44 JST.・Lowest altitude : 22.3 thou ( altitude calculated from the LRF cooking stove measurement)The current height of the spacecraft is 1.8 km .
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA ( @haya2e_jaxa)October 15 , 2018
JAXA made the call to delay the landings last calendar week , with project manager Yuichi Tsudatelling Agence France - Press , “ The mission … is to set ashore without polish off rocks . ” This would be “ most hard , ” he added , because “ We had expected the aerofoil would be still … but it seems there ’s no flat area . ”
In late September , Hayabusa2 ’s MINERVA - II1A and MINERVA - II1B rovers ( which practice torsion render by internal motor to hop rather than rely on wheels ) made asuccessful landing place on Ryuguand set out appraise its Earth’s surface . They soon begin transmitting backfascinating shotsof the meteor ’s surface . Ten days later , Hayabusa2 successfully deploy its Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout ( MASCOT ) observation golem , which contain a television camera , mass spectrometer , magnetometer , and radiometer , though its non - rechargeable lithium - ion assault and battery ran out of juiceas planneda little over 17 hours after touchdown .
[ Nature / AFP ]
asteroidsHayabusa2ScienceTechnology
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