Carl Sagan Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Another thread for the space lovers. JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, has sent the Hayabusu2 spaceship to an asteroid called Ryugu and last night approached to within 80 metres to drop two little (mninerva) robots which are currently on their way down to the surface, very much like the European Space Agency's Philae probe from a few years ago. But these landers will deliberately hop over the surface, with leaps of 15 metres at a time in the low gravity, and with cameras on each allowing us to produce stereo images from the surface of an asteroid. It's an incredible mission. In last night's approach you could see the shadow of the main spaceship projected onto Ryugu as the appraoch happened with the Sun behind. What times we live in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 So fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anag Ram Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Carl Sagan said: Another thread for the space lovers. JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, has sent the Hayabusu2 spaceship to an asteroid called Ryugu and last night approached to within 80 metres to drop two little (mninerva) robots which are currently on their way down to the surface, very much like the European Space Agency's Philae probe from a few years ago. But these landers will deliberately hop over the surface, with leaps of 15 metres at a time in the low gravity, and with cameras on each allowing us to produce stereo images from the surface of an asteroid. It's an incredible mission. In last night's approach you could see the shadow of the main spaceship projected onto Ryugu as the appraoch happened with the Sun behind. What times we live in. Great stuff Meanwhile in the UK the bus company is in unable to transport me to within half a mile of my home, let alone on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Sagan Posted September 22, 2018 Author Share Posted September 22, 2018 Hurrah! It took a while for the confirmation, but the little hopping landers separated properly and the mothership has returned to its 20 km holding orbit. The two landers were released at 55 metres but were spinning. Here's the best picture taken on the way down. Look forward to seeing the shots from the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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