On December 6, 2020, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft left pristiners of the Ryugu asteroid in the Australian outback, becoming the second return mission of the world’s asteroid sample, after Hayabusa’s first mission returned the polychiest samples of the Itakawa asteroid in 2010. But Hayabusa2 still has more to offer.
That same spacecraft is currently on its way to another distant space rock, with the aim of hooking more samples to help scientists compile the history of origin of the solar system. However, the recent observations of the asteroid reveal that Hayabusa2 may not be able to reduce its new objective.
Asteroid 1998 Ky26 is a small and lumpy object close to the land that is believed to contain approximately one million gallons of water. Turn so fast that one day in the rock ends almost as soon as it begins, according to POT. Hayabusa2 is ready to meet with the asteroid in 2031 as part of its extended mission to collect more dust and rock directly from the source.
Now, using multiple observatory world paper Posted in Nature communications.
It is not clear to land
The researchers behind the new article combined recent observations with previous radar data, revealing that the asteroid has only 36 feet (11 meters) wide, instead of 98 feet (30 meters). In addition, the asteroid is turning approximately twice as quickly as the suggested previous data.
«We discovered that the reality of the object is completely different from what was described above,» said Toni Santana-Ros, a researcher at the University of Alicante, Spain, main author of the new article, in a statement. «One day in this asteroid hard only five minutes!»
The first objective of Hayabusa2 measured at almost 3,000 feet (900 meters) wide. The spacecraft landed at the Ryugu asteroid on February 22, 2019, for the first time, then returned for a second Touchdown in July 2019 to collect underground samples of a crater that had created with its first landing. Shortly before leaving its samples on Earth, the Japan Space Agency (Jaxa) announced an extension to the Hayabusa2 mission and a second luck objective.
A bigger challenge awaits
However, unlike its first objective, the second landing of Hayabusa2 will be much more challenging due to the small size of the asteroid and rapid rotation. The team behind the new study used the very large telescope of the South European Observatory and other instruments to observe the Ky26 1998 in preparation for the next mission meeting.
«The surprising story here is that we find that the size of the asteroid is comparable to the size of the spacecraft that will visit it! And we could characterize such a small object using our telescopes, which means that we can do it for other objects in the future,» said Santana-Ros. «Our methods could have an impact on the plans of a future exploration of asteroids close to the earth or even asteroid mining.»
This has the creation of a very interesting appointment! Now we just have to wait, impatient, to arrive 2031.
