Japan's Hayabusa 2 Targets Final Asteroid Landing (space.com) 11
The team overseeing the Hayabusa2 mission for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is putting the vehicle through its paces one more time as it prepares to release the last rover it has on board. "That rehearsal, which took place Sept. 16 (Sept. 17 local time at mission control), sent two target markers toward the asteroid," reports Space.com. From the report: Each target marker is a reflective ball that's about 4 inches (10 centimeters) across and filled with smaller balls -- like a high-tech beanbag. Hayabusa2 launched with five of these markers and had already deployed two, one last October and one in May. Two more left the spacecraft during the rehearsal this week, according to JAXA. During the procedure, the spacecraft photographed the target markers every 4 seconds, producing the raw material that mission personnel have turned into stunning would-be multiple-exposure images.
As the camera snapped, the target marker itself stayed more or less in the same place, while the spacecraft itself rose at a speed of about 4 inches per second, according to a statement from JAXA. All told, the target markers took a few days to reach the asteroid's surface, on account of the space rock's very weak gravity. Since deploying the two target markers, Hayabusa2 has focused on observing the pair, which it will continue to do until Sept. 23, according to JAXA. The agency has not yet announced when it will deploy the spacecraft's final rover. That deployment marks the last task Hayabusa2 needs to complete before it ferries its precious space-rock cargo back to Earth. The spacecraft will leave Ryugu in November or December.
As the camera snapped, the target marker itself stayed more or less in the same place, while the spacecraft itself rose at a speed of about 4 inches per second, according to a statement from JAXA. All told, the target markers took a few days to reach the asteroid's surface, on account of the space rock's very weak gravity. Since deploying the two target markers, Hayabusa2 has focused on observing the pair, which it will continue to do until Sept. 23, according to JAXA. The agency has not yet announced when it will deploy the spacecraft's final rover. That deployment marks the last task Hayabusa2 needs to complete before it ferries its precious space-rock cargo back to Earth. The spacecraft will leave Ryugu in November or December.
Final Asteroid Landimg (Score:2)
They're going to land on thr final asteroid.
Meanwhile, in Tsarist Russia, Asteroid lands on You (Tunguska 1908)
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Meanwhile, in Tsarist Russia, Asteroid lands on You (Tunguska 1908)
Please don't give that giant intergalactic space turd that cruised through our solar systems a while back any ideas.
I always though it was just scoping things out, like a gang planning for a drive-by shooting.
Space Balls (Score:2)
What will a future alien civilization think when they find our balls on the asteroid?
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What will a future alien civilization think when they find our balls on the asteroid?
Easy, they'll think:
"These were real hard guys . . . they had balls of steel!"
Space exploration (Score:2)
This is what real space exploration looks like. But where are the Space Nutters? Strangely silent. If it isn't Elon Musk, they don't care.
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Of course this is real space exploration. It's slow, tedious, exacting, and boring. All it shows is configurations of atoms we already know exist. And will also show that none of the elaborate Space Nutter fantasy scenarios are even remotely possible. Ever.
That's why there is a distinct lack of Space Nutters here. Reality is their Kryptonite.
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But where are the Space Nutters? Strangely silent.
Didn't you read the summary? We left our balls on the Asteroid.
So the Space Nutters are up there on the Asteroid, too, nutting our nuts.