Hayabusa 2 collects underground asteroid samples after second landing

July 12, 2019

Sagamihara, Kanagawa Pref.--Japan's Hayabusa2 unmanned spacecraft is believed to have successfully collected underground samples from the Ryugu asteroid, the first such feat in human history, after making its second landing on the minor planet on Thursday morning, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

The probe touched down on Ryugu, at a location near an artificial crater created on its surface in April, shortly past 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT), JAXA said. The crater was made by an explosive device called impactor launched from Hayabusa2.

JAXA also confirmed that a bullet for collecting underground materials was successfully launched toward the surface of Ryugu.

"The second touchdown was successful," JAXA official Yuichi Tsuda, who leads the Hayabusa2 project, said at the operation room for the spacecraft, according to the government-affiliated space agency. Hayabusa2 "made history again," he also said.

This was the world's first-ever attempt to collect samples from below the surface of an asteroid.

At a press conference on Thursday, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kotaro Nogami commended Hayabusa2's successful second landing on Ryugu, calling it "a fantastic outcome."

Ryugu is believed to contain water and organic substances from the time when the solar system was born some 4.6 billion years ago.

Underground samples from an asteroid are highly likely to maintain their original forms in better conditions than those on its surface as they are less affected by solar heat and radiation, and they may therefore provide clues to unlocking how the solar system was made and how life started on Earth.

Hayabusa2 made its first touchdown on Ryugu in February.

JAXA set the target location for the craft's second landing at an area with a radius of 3.5 meters, which is located near the asteroid's equator and some 20 meters from the center of the artificial crater. Underground samples that came out above the surface when the crater was made are believed to have accumulated in the area.

Hayabusa2 stared descending toward Ryugu on Wednesday morning from a point some 20 kilometers above the asteroid.

After coming down to a point 500 meters above the asteroid's surface, Hayabusa2 continued its descent using its autonomous control system. The probe adjusted its location and position using a camera monitoring a marker dropped on Ryugu in May.

Underground sand stirred up by the bullet will be collected in a cylindrical container placed on the surface of Ryugu, according to JAXA.

Following its launch in December 2014, Hayabusa2 arrived near Ryugu in June last year. After its planned departure from the asteroid between November and December this year, the probe is slated to return to Earth around the end of 2020 and drop a capsule containing samples from Ryugu. Jiji Press