Japan’s star-studded return mission arrives in the Australian desert

After spending six years in space, a Japanese spacecraft has just landed in the South Australian desert, bringing a small cache of small planetary rocks to Earth’s surface. This is only the second time in history that material from one planet has been returned to our planet. Eventually, scientists will open up the astronauts, exposing the inner gemstones that will reveal more about the star spreading through our solar system.

The landing is the culmination of Japan’s Haibusa 2 mission, which aims to bring samples of a planet back to Earth. After launching from Japan in 2014, the Hayabus 2 spacecraft spent four years traveling to a storm called Ryugu. The vehicle hung around the storm last day, mapping the rock surface and capturing material samples before returning to Earth.

Scientists are eager to see the rocks return to Hayabus 2, as the old patterns of a planet can tell us a lot about what our solar system was like when the planets first formed. This is because asteroids are our cosmic galaxy. Are like pictures of children. These space rocks have been around since the ascension of the solar system, and scientists believe that the star’s wires haven’t really changed much in the last 4 billion years. These objects contain many of the same materials that existed at the time of the birth of the solar system, so studying these rocks in labs on Earth can provide a major context for the early days of the planets.

Photo by Getty Images via STR / GG Press / AFP

The capsule will be taken to Japan, where we will learn how much straw the mission collected. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which oversees the mission, hoped to retrieve 100 milligrams of material from Ryugu, but scientists have not found a way to measure how many samples Hayabus 2 collected while in space. The exact amount will be revealed when the spacecraft opens in Japan.

Hayabusa 2 used some creative techniques to collect its specimens at Ryugu. Equipped with a small horn-shaped arm, the spacecraft first tapped the planet with this satellite in February 2019. It went into the horns with hope.

The spacecraft not only captured a sample at Ryugu, but. Hayabus 2 attempted to repeat the move in July 2019, but the spacecraft had already made some excavations. First Tapping the storm a second time, The spacecraft dropped a box of explosives on Ryugu, causing a hurricane to explode and expose some rocks just below the surface. Hayabus 2 then tapped the inside surface of the pit to scoop up the new food. The goal was to collect more valuable rocks from Ryugu. Material beneath the planet’s surface has not been exposed to the harsh atmosphere of space for billions of years like the outer rocks, which have experienced some changes and reactions over time. Therefore the contents of the crater can provide a better snapshot of the materials that were present at the formation of the solar system.

Image: DLR

Once the Hayabus 2 team felt confident they had taken over from Ryugu, the space war went off the star in November 2019. After traveling to Earth last year, the spacecraft deployed a small capsule late Friday night, containing samples of Ryugu inside. The capsule then set out on a path to Earth this morning, sinking our planet’s atmosphere. It then deployed a parachute, which would slow the vehicle down to a speed of about 12 kilometers per second, or about 27,000 miles per hour, so that it could land slowly in the Womera Prohibit area in South Australia.

Jaxa’s ground teams continued to run after he was killed A detailed search to find the capsules in Australia. The vehicle landed in an area that covered an area of ​​100 square kilometers, or about 38 square miles. It also landed in Australia at night, making it harder to find the capsule. Fortunately, the capsule was equipped with a radio beacon Helped find teams Where the spacecraft touched down. Prior to landing, Jaxa’s teams installed five antennas around the landing site, hoping to help locate the signal, and the agency also built its own helicopter to help facilitate the search. There was also a drone flying over the area to take pictures.

Heabus 2 is Japan’s second mission to capture a planet. Its first mission, Hayabusa, returned planetary samples in 2010, although the mission only managed to collect small particles of planetary material. Hayabusa 2 hopes to collect more than the actual Hayabusa offerings. And in 2023, NASA’s OCRIS-Rex mission is expected to return the largest sample of material ever collected from a planet.

Although Hayabus 2 has completed its mission, the spacecraft has not done enough yet. The main spacecraft is still in space and Just looking to visit another ship 1998 called KY26. With the goal of analyzing space rock and learning more about the star zooming around us in space, Hayabus 2 will take 11 years to reach its new goal.