10 October 2018
MASCOT successfully surveys the surface of Ryugu
...was able to use a swing-arm to manoeuvre itself around Ryugu, allowing the scout to collect information from more than one ...slowly moving into position ready to collect a sample from Ryugu before heading to Earth with its prized possession. Eventually...
22 December 2021
Scientists present the first-ever analysis of samples retrieved from Ryugu
... and textural properties. Their examination reveals that the Ryugu sample has sizes ranging from around 8 millimetres (mm), ... of submillimetre CAIs or chondrules in the samples returned from Ryugu - neither could Pilorget and team. This, they say,...
16 March 2020
Porous nature of Ryugu suggests formation from fluffy particles, new study says
...its thermal conductivity, its dimensions, and other factors. Ryugu’s thermal inertia was low, suggesting that “the boulders..., add Okada and colleagues. All of this points to Ryugu being an ancient loosely packed rubble pile asteroid made of porous...
21 February 2019
Hayabusa2 starts descent towards Ryugu
...two hours ago, the craft was around nine kilometres from Ryugu and it busily started sending back a flurry of pictures ..., reflective, beanbag-like "target marker" that it dropped onto Ryugu earlier. Once in position, the spacecraft will fire a 5g ...
22 February 2019
Success for Hayabusa2 as it touches down on Ryugu
.... Hayabusa2 headed to its pre-chosen location on the asteroid Ryugu just before 23:00 GMT on 21 February to grab its sample... charge that will hollow out a crater on the surface of Ryugu. This will unearth fresh material that has not been exposed to...
January 2019
Visiting an asteroid to find out how life began
...from the asteroid. This is designated the ‘home position’ and the default location of Hayabusa2 in the vicinity of Ryugu. Arriving on June 27, Hayabusa2 began a summer of careful observations of the asteroid using the onboard instruments. What it saw...
