Japan’s Hayabusa2 to Reach Target Asteroid on Wed.

June 25, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 will reach its target asteroid, Ryugu, on Wednesday, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Monday.

The probe will begin on Wednesday morning positioning itself at a fixed reference point 20 kilometers above Ryugu in order to carry out observations.

Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014 from JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.

After reaching Ryugu, Hayabusa2 will remain close to the asteroid for about a year and a half. During this time, it will land on Ryugu three times to collect samples and place small probes on it for observations.

Hayabusa2 will leave Ryugu at the end of 2019 and return to Earth at the end of 2020. It will enter the atmosphere after detaching itself from a capsule containing the Ryugu samples. Jiji Press