Japanese space rovers send back footage from asteroid
- 6 years ago
SPACE — Japan's rovers that successfully landed on an asteroid have sent back their first images.
Japan's space agency made history last week as it was the first to ever land robot rovers on an asteroid. The rovers have now sent back high resolution photos of Ryugu's surface.
Due to Ryugu's weak gravity, Rover-1A and Rover-1B move around by hopping. Each rover stays in the air for 15 minutes and moves horizontally up to 15 meters with each hop.
Rovers-1A and Rover-1B are each equipped with multiple cameras which are now taking stereo images of Ryugu's surface. They have also sent back video of the asteroid's rocky surface.
For the next part of the mission, the Hayubusa 2 spacecraft, which deployed the rovers, plans to land on Ryugu by bombing the surface with a missile to create a landing zone for the ship. It will then collect asteroid samples.
Scientists involved believe the samples will give us a glimpse into the beginning of the universe.
The spacecraft is set to return to Earth by the end of 2020.
Japan's space agency made history last week as it was the first to ever land robot rovers on an asteroid. The rovers have now sent back high resolution photos of Ryugu's surface.
Due to Ryugu's weak gravity, Rover-1A and Rover-1B move around by hopping. Each rover stays in the air for 15 minutes and moves horizontally up to 15 meters with each hop.
Rovers-1A and Rover-1B are each equipped with multiple cameras which are now taking stereo images of Ryugu's surface. They have also sent back video of the asteroid's rocky surface.
For the next part of the mission, the Hayubusa 2 spacecraft, which deployed the rovers, plans to land on Ryugu by bombing the surface with a missile to create a landing zone for the ship. It will then collect asteroid samples.
Scientists involved believe the samples will give us a glimpse into the beginning of the universe.
The spacecraft is set to return to Earth by the end of 2020.