The Japanese probe Hayabusa2 has successfully amass material from below the surface of asteroid Ryugu , after dispatch its second successfultouchdownon the little near - Earth object today at 1.30am UTC . The spacecraft shot a rocket into the control surface of the asteroid before this class .
This is the first time we have collected subsurface textile from an object beyond the Moon , and the sampling , along with the previously collected surface I , will be brought back to Earth next yr . As asteroid have rest unchanged for 1000000000 of years , studying this material will hopefully allow for a windowpane into the past times .
" We ’ve collected a part of the Solar System ’s history , " Hayabusa2 undertaking manager Yuichi Tsuda said at apress conferencea few minute after the landing place ’s achiever was announced .
In April , the investigation release the Small Carry - on Impactor ( SCI ) , a loose - flying gun , and then strike to a safe distance on the other side of the asteroid . While it might seem like an over - the - top guard , researchers were concerned that the projectile might quickly let go of enough debris to damage the probe .
The SCI shot a 2.5 - kg ( 5.5 - Irish pound ) copper projectile using 4.5 kilograms ( 9.9 Cypriot pound ) of explosive propellant thrill from a distance of 500 meters ( 1,640 feet ) . It created a volcanic crater roughly 2 meters ( 6 feet ) in diameter . The investigation did n’t land in this crater but in an area more or less 20 metre ( 65 feet ) from its center , where the debris publish by the impact landed .
This is a very crucial measure in Hayabusa2 ’s deputation around Ryugu , but there are a few more to fare before the craft impart the asteroid . later on this month , the spacecraft will deploy a rover on the asteroid ’s control surface . This will be the fourth one after the three successful deployment last year . It will then carry on to examine the asteroid until the terminal calendar month of this year .
At that point , it will move into its home field , which will take it near Earth in December 2020 . It will release the sample , which will journey down through the atmosphere , and is expect to land in Australia . The probe is expected to come back to Earth with plenty of fuel so there ’s a possibility that it will be post back into recondite space to study another near - Earth objective in future .
