JAXA Puts Off Hayabusa2 Landing on Asteroid Ryugu

October 12, 2018

Tokyo- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said Thursday that it has decided to postpone the first landing of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on asteroid Ryugu at least until January next year.

The landing was previously slated for later this month.

JAXA judged it necessary to carry out additional rehearsals for the landing after learning that the surface of the asteroid is rockier than expected.

"We're learning much more about the conditions on Ryugu, but our information is still insufficient," Yuichi Tsuda, associate professor at JAXA, told a press conference. "We need more time to think."

The agency will mull over landing plans from late November to year-end, during which communications with Hayabusa2 will be blocked by the sun.

Images from robotic explorers released from Hayabusa2 showed that a wide area of the surface is covered with rocks more than 50 centimeters across, posing impediments to a landing. The Minerva-II 1 explorers successfully touched down on the surface of the asteroid last month.

JAXA now sees the need to confirm details of prospective landing locations through rehearsals.

JAXA initially planned to rehearse twice. But the first one was suspended because technical problems occurred when the spacecraft was some 600 meters above the surface.

Now, the agency plans to carry out the delayed first rehearsal on Sunday or Monday, with the other one expected for Oct. 24 or 25.

The timing of the first landing will be decided after the rehearsals.

JAXA said there has been no change in its plan to conduct three Hayabusa2 landings to collect samples and have the spacecraft return to Earth around the end of 2020. Jiji Press