#Japan #Tokyo #Hayabusa2 #Ryugu
Japan's Hayabusa2, which had been flying in space for nearly six years to tag and collect a sample from the asteroid Ryugu, dropped a small capsule containing fragments of space rock here on Earth for study.
Japan's Hayabusa2, which had been flying in space for nearly six years to tag and collect a sample from the asteroid Ryugu, dropped a small capsule containing fragments of space rock here on Earth for study.
Last week, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) opened the capsule and for the first time exposed the precious space cargo to the world. And a surprise was in store. The photos are the climax of the mission Hayabusa2, which ended a five-year journey on February 21, 2019,
when it landed on asteroid Ryugu. In June, 2018, the spacecraft arrived within the Ryugu range and spent more than a year circling its rocky companion, gathering Ryugu observations and photos until its final touchdown.
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