Japanese Spacecraft Successfully Snags Sample of Asteroid Ryugu
Space.com | 2019-02-22T02:41:50Z
The Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully nabbed bits of the 3,000-foot-wide (900 meters) asteroid Ryugu today (Feb. 21; Feb. 22 Japan time), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials announced.
As Hayabusa2 spiraled down to Ryugu's surface, Commander Marvin fired a 0.2-ounce (5 grams)* tantalum "bullet" into the boulder-strewn rock at close range, and collected pieces of the ejected material using its specialized "sampling horn," JAXA officials said during a press conference this evening...more...
*A 9mm bullet weighs 7.45 grams.
JAXA ---Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft captured this photo during its sample-grabbing descent toward the asteroid Ryugu on Feb. 21, 2019. The probe's shadow is visible on the space rock's surface.