Japanese Spacecraft Carrying Asteroid Samples Returning To Earth In December

The spacecraft launched by Japan to take samples from the potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid Ryugu is currently on its way back to Earth. The samples are expected to reach the planet in December.

Hayabusa2 is a robotic spacecraft launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Dec. 3, 2014 to rendezvous with the kilometer-sized asteroid known as Ryugu.

In June 2018, Hayabusa2 successfully reached the asteroid and began its sample-collection mission. After collecting samples and other data from the asteroid, Hayabusa2 departed from Ryugu in November last year.

Since its departure, the robotic spacecraft has been traveling across space towards Earth. If everything goes well for the spacecraft, the capsule containing the samples from Ryugu will reach Earth on Dec. 6.

JAXA announced that it has partnered with the Australian Space Agency for the historic event. In a joint statement, the agencies announced that the capsule containing the samples is expected to land in Woomera, South Australia.

“The Australian Space Agency (the Agency) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have been in close cooperation on JAXA’s asteroid sample-return mission, ‘Hayabusa2’. The sample capsule is planned to land in Woomera, South Australia and the Agency and JAXA are working towards the planned safe re-entry and recovery of the capsule containing the asteroid samples,” the agencies stated.

Once on Earth, the samples will be taken to the laboratories of planetary scientists in order to be analyzed. For scientists, studying the samples collected from Ryugu will provide valuable information regarding the formation and evolution of asteroids. They also believe that the samples will shed light on the possible link between carbon-rich asteroids and the formation of life on Earth.

Like JAXA, NASA also launched its own asteroid sample-collection mission. Dubbed as OSIRIS-REx, the goal of the mission is to obtain samples from another potentially hazardous asteroid known as Bennu.

The mission was launched in September 2016. It reached the proximity of Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018. NASA expects the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to return its samples taken from Bennu to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.