Space probe Hayabusa2 successfully lands on asteroid Ryugu.
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Japan’s Hayabusa2 space probe successfully landed on asteroid Ryugu on Friday morning JST.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the spacecraft also shot a projectile onto the asteroid.
JAXA thereby plans to collect and retrieve stones and sand from the surface of Ryugu.
Yuichi Tsuda, Hayabusa2 project manager:
“Today, the hand of mankind arrived on a new, tiny star.”
“We believe it landed in the best possible condition, just as we had intended.”
Makoto Yoshikawa, Hayabusa2 mission manager:
“I appreciate that the probe carried out a complicated and precise
mission perfectly all alone, 340 million kilometers away from Earth.”
Hayabusa2 was launched in December 2014.
It arrived above the asteroid last June.
The mission is aimed at exploring the origins of planets and water as well as the source of life.