Japan successfully marked its landing on asteroids for further space exploration, but with no casualties and issues.
[MINERVA-II1] #asteroidlanding https://t.co/iafav3jguJ pic.twitter.com/GBvfEYcPTV
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 21, 2018
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) now have reason to celebrate successfully after deploying a pair of robots (rovers) on the surface of an asteroid in the orbital field of our Sun.
The mission, was carried out on Friday, aims to gather photos and data from the asteroid called Ryugu.
This is a picture from MINERVA-II1. The color photo was captured by Rover-1A on September 21 around 13:08 JST, immediately after separation from the spacecraft. Hayabusa2 is top and Ryugu's surface is below. The image is blurred because the rover is spinning. #asteroidlanding pic.twitter.com/CeeI5ZjgmM
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 22, 2018
The mission’s success — marked the end of a 4-year journey — was confirmed in a tweet on Saturday from JAXA’s account for the Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer.
A lot of images were followed as the two hopping rovers — yes, they get around by hopping — set about their important task.
"I cannot find words to express how happy I am…" Y.T.
The MINERVA-II1 rovers have successfully landed on asteroid Ryugu, snapped photos & taken the first successful hop! Have a read about this world first and hear the comments from our Project Members.https://t.co/xtoIcWIT5X pic.twitter.com/AOYDhhBDe2
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 22, 2018
Official News from the rovers right from them
Space enthusiasts can keep up with the status of Hayabusa2’s mission on JAXA’s English-language website right here.
Curious about what Hayabusa2 is doing right now? Our Haya2Now website is now in English! Just rollover each panel to find out more: https://t.co/UAbNVeHv1u pic.twitter.com/nF8tpV01y5
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 7, 2018
There’s also a post from JAXA discussing the mission here.
As JAXA notes, MINERVA-II1 “is the world’s first rover (mobile exploration robot) to land on the surface of an asteroid. This is also the first time for autonomous movement and picture capture on an asteroid surface.”