New Delhi (NVI): Japanese space probe ‘Hayabusa-2’ carrying samples collected from an asteroid arrived on earth early today as the space capsule landed safely near Woomera in Australia, the country’s space agency said.
This the second time ever that humanity has brought samples to earth. With this, the space brobe completed its six-year mission. During the mission, the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft had fired two impactors into the asteroid, and collected samples of both surface dust and material from below the surface, that was stirred up.
Capsule collection! The helicopter team immediately flew to the location identified by the DFS team. They searched for the fallen capsule by using radio waves and maps. Thank you very much!
(Collection Team M)#Hayabusa2#はやぶさ２#AsteroidExplorerHayabusa2 #HAYA2Report pic.twitter.com/KSyEbnU3Yd— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) December 6, 2020
“On December 6, 2020, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has recovered the body of the capsule, the heat shields, and the parachute of the “Hayabusa2″ re-entry capsule in the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA),” the Japanese space agency said in a statement.
“Tomorrow, the capsule recovery team will extract gas out of the capsule at the operation headquarters in Australia. Researchers considered the gas originates from the precious sample from Asteroid Ryugu,” it added.
It further sad that after the capsule separation, the spacecraft performed trajectory correction maneuvers three times every 30 minutes to depart from the Earth’s sphere from 15:30 to 16:30 on December 5 (JST).
“The Hayabusa2 team members confirmed the trajectory correction maneuvers’ success at 16:31 on the same day (JST). The current status of the spacecraft is normal,” the agency said.
The mission by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa2 is aimed at exploring the origins of the solar system and where molecules like water came from.
Launched from Japan’s Tanegashima space centre in 2014, the spacecraft took four years to reach the asteroid Ryugu before taking a sample and heading back to Earth in November 2019.
According to scientists, asteroid Ryugu may contain organic matter that may have contributed to life on earth.
-ARK
