Short Chat with the builders of Hayabusa-2

_Tombstone_

Hayabusa 2 is an asteroid sample return mission operated by the Japanese space agency, JAXA.

The target is asteroid 162173 Ryugu (formerly designated 1999 JU3). Hayabusa 2 is expected to arrive at the target in July 2018, survey the asteroid for a year and a half, depart in December 2019, and return to Earth in December 2020.

http://blog.imgtec.com/mips-processors/mips-in-space-inside-jaxa-hayabusa-2-mission

Capt'n Midnight

The Japanese have gotten there. Or rather they'll be hovering 20Km away while doing recon

Japanese Sample Return Spacecraft Reaches Target Asteroid


http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/

There's an ESA lander on board too Mascot, it should be able to hop around a bit

jumpjack

This mission is really amazing (and ambitious...), with its 12 movable payloads!

https://aliveuniverse.today/flash-news/missioni-spaziali/3513-hayabusa-2-uno-sguardo-alla-sonda

Capt'n Midnight

*giddy*

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/09/06/hayabusa-2-team-sets-dates-for-asteroid-landings/

Two of the landers developed by the Japanese space agency will be deployed together by Hayabusa 2 on Sept. 21, and another landing probe provided by German and French scientists is set for its descent to Ryugu on Oct. 3.

...
Billed by European scientists as Philae’s “little brother,” MASCOT carries a self-righting mechanism to orient itself after settling down on Ryugu’s surface. The autonomous lander will also try to hop to different positions on the asteroid during its planned 16-hour mission, which is limited by the capacity of the probe’s battery.

josip

Very little media attention over here compared to Rosetta, presumably because it's not 'ours'?

All the latest updates are here.

https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa?lang=en

Capt'n Midnight

You can see which ground station is talking to the satellite too
http://haya2now.jp/en.html

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/

MINERVA-II1: Successful image capture,
landing on Ryugu and hop!

josip

Hayabusa2 has gotten very little media exposure on this side of the world compared to Rosetta.
https://newatlas.com/space/hayabusa2-heads-back-earth/


It's done its job, sample acquired and is heading back.