Japan’s space agency said an explosive dropped Friday from its Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system. Friday’s mission was the riskiest for Hayabusa2 because […]
asteroid
Japan space probe reaches asteroid in search for origin of life
A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid 300 million kilometres away to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origin of life after a more than three-year voyage through deep space. The Hayabusa2 probe settled into an observation position 20 kilometres (12 miles) above the Ryugu asteroid, officials from the Japan […]