Hayabusa and Hayabusa2
Hayabusa is a Japanese space probe developed by JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, whose aim was to collect samples from a small near-Earth asteroid Itokawa. Hayabusa was launched on May 9th in 2003 and rendezvoused with Itokawa in September 2005. In November 2005, it succeeded in landing on the asteroid and collecting samples of Itokawa’s material in the form of tiny dust particles. Although there were several technical failures, Hayabusa was well managed by many researchers and successfully returned to Earth on June 13th in 2010.
After Hayabusa, Hayabusa2 succeeded in touching down on the asteroid Ryugu’s surface to collect samples and bringing them back to Earth. Hayabusa2 was launched towards the asteroid on December 3rd in 2014 with the same sample-return mission as Hayabusa’s, reaching Ryugu on June 27th in 2018. Surveying it for a year and a half and taking its samples, Hayabusa2 left Ryugu in November 2019 and successfully delivered a capsule carrying asteroid rocks and dust to Earth on December 6th in 2020.
Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 accomplished significant achievements. They returned rock and soil samples from asteroids for the first time in human history. They also contributed to our knowledge about the birth of our solar system, and to the discovery of useful resources outside Earth.
Hayabusa is a Japanese space probe developed by JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, whose aim was to collect samples from a small near-Earth asteroid Itokawa. Hayabusa was launched on May 9th in 2003 and rendezvoused with Itokawa in September 2005. In November 2005, it succeeded in landing on the asteroid and collecting samples of Itokawa’s material in the form of tiny dust particles. Although there were several technical failures, Hayabusa was well managed by many researchers and successfully returned to Earth on June 13th in 2010.
After Hayabusa, Hayabusa2 succeeded in touching down on the asteroid Ryugu’s surface to collect samples and bringing them back to Earth. Hayabusa2 was launched towards the asteroid on December 3rd in 2014 with the same sample-return mission as Hayabusa’s, reaching Ryugu on June 27th in 2018. Surveying it for a year and a half and taking its samples, Hayabusa2 left Ryugu in November 2019 and successfully delivered a capsule carrying asteroid rocks and dust to Earth on December 6th in 2020.
Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 accomplished significant achievements. They returned rock and soil samples from asteroids for the first time in human history. They also contributed to our knowledge about the birth of our solar system, and to the discovery of useful resources outside Earth.