TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2019) Japanese asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 has successfully performed its second landing on the surface of asteroid Ryugu, Japanese space agency JAXA said on Thursday.

"July 11 at 10:51 JST [01:51 GMT]: Gate 5 check. The state of the spacecraft is normal and the touchdown sequence was performed as scheduled. Project Manager Tsuda has declared that the 2nd touchdown was a success!" JAXA wrote on the probe's Twitter.

A webcast on the JAXA website showed that the probe began descending from an altitude of 20 kilometers (13 miles) on Wednesday, aiming to land near a crater that it created in April by firing a bullet into the asteroid's soil.

During the touchdown, the probe will collect the samples of material released from firing the projectile into the surface for bringing them to Earth.

Scientists believe that the samples, which the Japanese probe will try to collect, may shed light on how the Solar System was created and how life appeared on Earth.

Hayabusa2 was launched in 2014 and is expected to return to Earth in 2020.

Ryugu is currently over 300 million kilometers away from Earth. </s> The Japanese space agency JAXA announced in August that its Hayabusa probe 2, which arrived at the 3,000-foot-wide asteroid Ryugu in June, will attempt to send a pair of special rovers to the surface of the extraterrestrial rock.

Now, after a lengthy space travel from Earth, the probe has finally deployed the two rovers called MINERVA-II1A and MINERVA-II1B, which were designed to study the asteroid. Space reported that the event happened on September 21, when the mother ship was about 180 feet above the rocks’ surface.

Landing probes on asteroids has proved difficult. The only probes that managed to have a soft touchdown on an asteroid are the original Hayabusa probe, which landed on the surface of the asteroid Itokawa in 2003; and NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous-Shoemaker spacecraft, which landed on asteroid Eros in 2001.

If all goes as planned, the Minerva-II1 probes would have drifted down to touch down on the dusty surface of Ryugu.

JAXA officials confirmed clear signals from the two rovers after their deployment, but they admitted having lost contact, which they attribute to the rotation of the asteroid.

Officials said that the MINERVA-II1 duo is currently on the far side of the asteroid and they are working to confirm images that capture the landing of the robots. It may take a couple more days to confirm that the rovers are ready to perform their scientific duties.

MINERVA-II1A and MINERVA-II1B carry with them a range of scientific gear, which includes seven cameras, as well as temperature and optical sensors. The probes were designed to hop from place to place on the surface of their target asteroid.

Mission members explained that gravity on the asteroid’s surface is weak, so a rover propelled by wheels or crawlers would float upwards once it starts to move.

“This hopping mechanism was adopted for moving across the surface of such small celestial bodies,” mission team members said.

The Hayabusa 2 mission, which was launched in 2014, will grab samples from Ryugu and return these materials to Earth. The goal of the mission is to learn more about the target asteroid and get a better understanding of what asteroids are made of.

Astronomers are keen on studying asteroids like Ryugu because these objects are believed to be remnants of the early solar system and remained relatively unchanged over the past 4.5 billion. </s> The Hayabusa-2 probe rendezvoused with the barrelling space rock earlier this year in June after a three-and-a-half-year trip through space. The Japanese probe will now deploy robotic landers to the surface of Ryugu on two separate dates. Officials in Japan have announced Hayabusa-2 will deploy its first set of remote robots on September 21. Thereafter the spacecraft will release a second lander, dubbed MASCOT, on October 3.

Hayabusa-2’s official mission Twitter account posted: “The spacecraft is currently operating in BOX-B. On August 23, we announced to the media that the point denoted ‘L08’ near the asteroid equator had been selected as the candidate site for the touchdown of Hayabusa-2. “However, the surface of Ryugu is covered with boulders, so we need to continue gathering and considering information so that we can touchdown safely. “The MINERVA-II-1 and MASCOT lander decided to land at mid-latitude sites, N6 and MA-9. “MINERA-II-1 separation is scheduled for September 21, and MASCOT on October 3.”

The giant asteroid’s official designation is 162173 Ryugu. If Hayabusa-2 successfully deploys its landers on the space rock next month, the mission will mark the first ever spacecraft to position data gathering landers on an asteroid. The first leg of the mission saw Hayabusa-2 launch from the Tanegashima Launch Center, Japan, on December 3, 2014. Now the spacecraft is preparing to deploy a pair of robots, dubbed Rover 1A and Rover 1B, to the asteroid’s surface.

Unlike the familiar Martian rovers deployed by NASA, the Japanese robots will “hop” around the space rock without the need for wheels. Ryugu’s low gravity will help the hoppers navigate the bumpy surface with ease. Each robot is fitted with an array of different cameras to beam back photos of the asteroid back to the Hayabusa-2 mothership. Just 12 days later the spacecraft will deploy the MASCOT lander to gather scientific data. MASCOT will study Ryugu’s chemical and mineral composition, its magnetic field and take temperature measurements. </s> This spectacular photo shows the view from asteroid Ryugu from the Minerva-II1A rover during a hop after it successfully landed on Sept. 21, 2018. The probe is one of two that landed on Ryugu from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft. It's the first time two mobile rovers landed on an asteroid.

The suspense is over: Two tiny hopping robots have successfully landed on an asteroid called Ryugu — and they've even sent back some wild postcards from their new home.

The tiny rovers are part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 asteroid sample-return mission. Engineers with the agency deployed the robots early Friday (Sept. 21), but JAXA waited until today (Sept. 22) to confirm the operation was successful and both rovers made the landing safely.

The rovers are part of the MINERVA-II1 program, and are designed to hop along the asteroid's surface, taking photographs and gathering data. In fact, one of the initial images sent home by the hoppers is awfully blurry, since the robot snapped it while still on the go.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Minerva-II1 rover captured this view of asteroid Ryugu (bottom) and the Hayabusa2 spacecraft (at top right) just after the rover separated from the spacecraft on Sept. 21, 2018. (Image credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)

In order to complete the deployment, the main spacecraft of the Hayabusa2 mission lowered itself carefully down toward the surface until it was just 180 feet (55 meters) up. After the rovers were on their way, the spacecraft raised itself back up to its typical altitude of about 12.5 miles above the asteroid's surface (20 kilometers).

The MINERVA-II1B rover captured this view of asteroid Ryugu on Sept. 21, 2018 shortly after separating from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The asteroid appears at lower right. (Image credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)

The agency still has two more deployments yet to accomplish before it can rest easy: Hayabusa2 is scheduled to deploy a larger rover called MASCOT in October and another tiny hopper next year. And of course, the main spacecraft has a host of other tasks to accomplish during its stay at Ryugu — most notably, to collect a sample of the primitive world to bring home to Earth for laboratory analysis.

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the deployment descent altitude in feet; the measurement in meters remains correct.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. </s> This remarkable achievement was confirmed when the spacecraft closed to just 20 km from the 1 km-diameter asteroid's surface, having entered a critical phase of this ambitious mission.

This image was taken on 24 June, as the craft nosed up to the asteroid, from a distance of about 40 km.

Hayabusa2 aims to study Ryugu in detail, deposit a European and a series of Japanese landers on the surface and return a sample of ancient rock to Earth in 2020.

"Together with all of you, we have become the first eyewitnesses to see asteroid Ryugu. I feel this amazing honour as we proceed with the mission operations," said Yuichi Tsuda, project manager from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

In 2014-17, during Hayabua2's cruise phase from Earth toward the asteroid, ESA's deep-space ground station at Malargüe, Argentina − part of the Agency's worldwide Estrack network − provided crucial communication support to the mission.

In July this year, Malargüe will resume support, providing one communication contact session per week together with ESA's Cebreros station in Spain. Malargüe station will also support the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission, due for launch in the autumn.

Explore further: Japan space probe reaches asteroid in search for origin of life </s> A pair of tiny JAXA robots, released by the Hayabusa2 probe, have successfully landed on the Ryugu asteroid and began transmitting images from the surface of the “potentially hazardous” object four years after the mission launch.

The first images from the astronomical object flying at some 300 million kilometers from the Earth were received by Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) immediately after the MINERVA-II1 rovers touched down on the asteroid on Friday.

The first image was taken after the separation of the two cylinder-shaped explorers from the Hayabusa2 space probe. Snapped while the rover was rotating, the blurred image shows Hayabusa2 at the top of the screen with the surface of Ryugu depicted at the bottom.

The second image received on Earth was captured by Rover-1B and shows a much clearer definition of the surface of Ryugu in the lower right corner, with sunlight reflection visible on the top left. The third image released by JAXA was snapped by Rover-1A as it hopped on the surface of its target, offering yet another glimpse of the mysterious object.

“MINERVA-II1 is the world’s first rover (mobile exploration robot) to land on the surface of an asteroid,” JAXA said. “This is also the first time for autonomous movement and picture capture on an asteroid surface.”

Measuring just 18-by-7cms and weighing about one kilo, MINERVA-II1 rovers will take advantage of Ryugu’s low gravity to hop about the surface of the asteroid, which is approximately one kilometer in diameter. The robots will take photos and temperature readings of Ryugu before Hayabusa2 space probe lands on the asteroid’s surface in 2019.

Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014 and made its rendezvous with Ryugu in June this year. Once the probe completes taking samples from the asteroid, it will head back to Earth in late 2020.

Like this story? Share it with a friend! </s> TOKYO (AFP) - Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe touched down on a distant asteroid on Thursday (July 11), the country’s space agency said, on a mission to collect samples that could shed light on the history of the solar system.

“The control room received Doppler data showing that the probe appears to have touched down successfully,” Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) spokesman Takayuki Tomobe told Agence France-Presse.

“But Doppler only shows the speed and altitude so we will need definitive confirmation,” he added. Additional data readings are expected later in the day.

A successful landing on the Ryugu asteroid, about 300 million kilometres from Earth, would make it the second time the probe has touched down on the asteroid as part of a complex mission that has also involved sending rovers and robots.

A livestream of JAXA’s control room for the mission showed scientists standing nervously watching monitors with incoming data as the probe neared Ryugu.

As the data came in showing the apparently successful touchdown, agency officials broke into applause and shook hands with each other.

The much-anticipated touchdown was only brief, and intended to allow Hayabusa2 to collect samples blasted from beneath Ryugu’s surface.

The mission hopes the samples could provide insights into what the solar system was like at its birth, some 4.6 billion years ago.

To get at those crucial materials, an "impactor" was fired from Hayabusa2 towards Ryugu in April, in a risky process that created a crater on the asteroid's surface and stirred up material that had not previously been exposed to the atmosphere.

"This is the second touchdown, but doing a touchdown is a challenge whether it's the first or the second," Mr Yuichi Tsuda, Hayabusa2 project manager, told reporters ahead of the mission.

"The whole team will do our best so that we'll be able to complete the operation," he said.

Hayabusa2's first touchdown was in February, when it landed briefly on Ryugu and fired a bullet into the surface to puff up dust for collection, before blasting back to its holding position.

The second touchdown requires special preparations because any problems could mean the probe loses the precious materials already gathered during its first landing.

A photo of the crater taken by Hayabusa2's camera shows that parts of the asteroid's surface are covered with materials that are "obviously different" from the rest of the surface, mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa told reporters.

The probe is expected to make a brief touchdown on an area some 20m away from the centre of the crater to collect the unidentified materials believed to be "ejecta" from the blast.

"It would be safe to say that extremely attractive materials are near the crater," Mr Tsuda said.

The touchdown will be the last major part of Hayabusa2's mission, and when the probe returns to Earth next year, scientists hope to learn more about the history of the solar system and even the origin of life from its samples.

"I'm really looking forward to analysing these materials," Mr Yoshikawa said.

The Hayabusa2 mission has attracted international attention, with Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May sending a video to the probe's team ahead of the landing.

"The world is watching. We love you, take care Hayabusa2," the iconic musician told the team.

At about the size of a large refrigerator and equipped with solar panels to keep it powered, Hayabusa2 is the successor to Jaxa's first asteroid explorer, Hayabusa - Japanese for falcon.

That probe returned with dust samples from a smaller, potato-shaped asteroid in 2010, despite various setbacks during its epic seven-year odyssey, and was hailed as a scientific triumph.

Hayabusa2's photos of Ryugu, which means "Dragon Palace" in Japanese and refers to a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale, show the asteroid has a rough surface full of boulders.

The Hayabusa2 mission was launched in December 2014, and has a price tag of around 30 billion yen (S$376 million). The probe is scheduled to return to Earth with its samples in 2020.

But its has already made history, including with the creation of the crater on Ryugu's surface.

In 2005, Nasa's Deep Impact project succeeded in creating an artificial crater on a comet, but only for observation purposes. </s> The Japanese space agency has set dates for its historic plan to explore the surface of an asteroid with robots.

The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft reached the asteroid Ryugu in June this year after a three-and-a-half-year journey to the spinning top-shaped space rock.

Officials have picked days in September and October for the deployment of separate robotic landing craft from the Hayabusa 2 "mothership".

The robots will be despatched to separate locations on the asteroid.

If all goes well, they will be the first landing craft to gather data from the surface of an asteroid.

The 1km-wide space rock known formally as 162173 Ryugu belongs to a particularly primitive type of asteroid, and therefore a relic left over from the early days of our Solar System. Studying it could shed light on the origin and evolution of our own planet.

Hayabusa 2 was launched from the Tanegashima Launch Center in far southern Japan on 3 December 2014. It has been carrying several science instrument payloads for release onto the surface of its target, Ryugu.

On 21 September, it will despatch the first of these piggybacked packages. A 3.3kg container known as Minerva II-1, which is mounted on the spacecraft, will deploy two robots known as Rover 1A and Rover 1B.

The 1kg "rovers" will actually move by hopping under the asteroid's low gravity. Each one contains a motor-powered internal mass that rotates to generate force, propelling the robot across the surface.

The rovers are equipped with wide-angle and stereo cameras to send back pictures from Ryugu.

Then, on 3 October, the mothership will deploy a lander called Mascot, which has been developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in conjunction with the French Space Agency (CNES).

Mascot, otherwise known as the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, is a 10kg instrument package which will gather a range of scientific data from the surface.

It carries a wide-angle camera, a microscope to study the composition of minerals, a radiometer to measure temperature and a magnetometer to measure the magnetic field.

After it reaches the surface, Mascot can move its position only once, by jumping.

Another lander, known as Minerva II-2, which has been built by a team at Japan's Tohoku University, will be deployed at a later date.

Even further on in the mission, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) plans to detonate an explosive charge that will punch a crater into the surface of Ryugu.

Hayabusa 2 would then descend into the crater to collect fresh rocks that have not been altered by aeons of exposure to the environment space.

These samples will then be sent to Earth, for laboratory studies.

The spacecraft will depart from Ryugu in December 2019 with the intention of returning to Earth with the asteroid samples in 2020.

The first Hayabusa spacecraft was launched in 2003 and reached the asteroid Itokawa in 2005.

Despite being hit by a series of mishaps, it returned to Earth in 2010 with a small amount of material from the asteroid.

An American asteroid sample return mission, Osiris-Rex, will rendezvous with the object 101955 Bennu in August. </s> The Japanese space agency said that it has made history by successfully landing two unmanned rovers on an asteroid.

"The two rovers are in good condition and are transmitting images and data," the agency, JAXA, said on 22 September after the rovers separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft and landed on the asteroid Ryugu.

The rovers are collectively known as MINERVA-II1, reports CNN.

The space agency reported that MINERVA-II1 is the world's first mobile exploration robot to land on the surface of an asteroid.

"I felt awed by what we had achieved in Japan. This is just a real charm of deep space exploration," said Takashi Kubota, a spokesman for the space agency.

The Hayabusa2 began its approach to Ryugu from an orbiting altitude of around 20 km on 21 September afternoon.

As the craft approached to within 100 metres of the space rock, it sent back a photo showing Hayabusa2's shadow projected onto its barren, cratered surface.

Beneath their desolate surfaces, asteroids are believed to contain a rich treasure-trove of information about the formation of the solar system billions of years ago.

The 1 km-wide space rock, which is shaped like a diamond, is expected to be "rich in water and organic materials", allowing scientists to "clarify interactions between the building blocks of Earth and the evolution of its oceans and life, thereby developing solar system science", according to JAXA.

A series of specially designed cameras — four on the first rover and three on the second — will take stereo images of the asteroid's surface.

The rovers are also equipped with temperature gauges and optical sensors as well as an accelerometer and a set of gyroscopes.

A third rover called MASCOT will be launched from Hayabusa2 in early October, CNN said.

After examining the far distant object and taking samples, Hayabusa2 will depart Ryugu in December 2019 before returning to Earth by the end of 2020 with its cargo of samples.

If successful, JAXA has said it will be the "world's first sample return mission to a C-type asteroid".
The Japanese space agency announces their schedule for the exploration of 162173 Ryugu by their Hayabusa 2 probe.