M
Mike Wehner
Guest
- The asteroid probe Hayabusa2, sent by the Japanese space agency JAXA, made two attempts to collect material from the surface of the space rock Ryugu.
- As the now-returned samples reveal, the initial attempt gathered fine particles and sandy material, but the second attempt was much more impressive.
- JAXA describes the second sample as including rocks as large as nearly half an inch, and they're very hard.
Japan's Hayabusa2 asteroid probe mission took a long, long time. Flying to and from the asteroid Ryugu took many months, and the time the spacecraft spent in orbit around the asteroid was lengthy in its own right. The biggest risk for the spacecraft — and one of the most important objectives of the mission — was to bring asteroid samples back to Earth.
It completed that task just a couple of weeks ago, and Japan slowly began to reveal information about the samples that the probe gathered. The first reveal was somewhat underwhelming, revealing some black, charcoal-like dust and small pebbles from the first sample collection attempt. Now, after JAXA showed off its second batch of asteroid sample material we can say with certainty that the mission was an absolutely huge success.
Today's Top Deal
Save 32% on giant 2-liter pump bottles of Purell
Price: $54.50 ($0.40/Fl Oz)
You Save: $25.25 (32%)
Buy Now
Continue reading...
Today's Top Deals
- This hand sanitizer is a proven virus killer – and it keeps working for hours after you use it
- Today’s best deals: $40 Amazon gift card, Clorox wipes, $24 wireless earbuds, $25 Roku, KN95 masks, more
- Grocery hoarding made 5 things hard to find in stores – but they’re in stock at Amazon
Trending Right Now:
- Dr. Fauci made a depressing new prediction about COVID-19 herd immunity
- Here’s when you can expect your $600 stimulus check to arrive
- If you use any of these smartphones, you can’t connect to T-Mobile’s network in 2021
Japan’s asteroid probe grabbed a ton of material on its second attempt originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 28 Dec 2020 at 14:23:50 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Via BRG - Boy Genius Report