Japan just landed on an asteroid and shot a bullet into it and they’ve shared a stunning image of the massive rock as the spacecraft shoves off to make the return journey home.
Shadow Selfie! Japan’s #Hayabusa2 spacecraft snapped this photo just after snagging a sample from the surface of the asteroid #Ryugu on Feb. 21, 2019.
More: https://t.co/GjM2xBRs2i pic.twitter.com/jWqf8B7y0i— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) February 25, 2019
Last year, the spacecraft Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu, the asteroid that would soon have two tiny cookie-tin sized rovers dropped onto it, in hopes of collecting a sample.
Recently the spacecraft itself finally touched down on the massive space rock in an attempt to collect a sample for researchers to study back here on Earth.
Hayabusa2 shot a tantalum bullet into the asteroid to collect the sample. The bullet traveled at 984 feet per second and kicked up a ton of asteroid dust in the process which, scientists hope, will land in the spacecraft’s collection canister.
The image reveals the shadow of the spacecraft cast on the asteroid after it collected the sample and left. The discoloration on the asteroid (image above, right) is probably due to the bullet firing, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said on their website, according to Science Alert.
Hayabusa2 will make two more touchdowns on the asteroid to collect samples before it makes it way home, arriving back to Earth sometime in December of this year.
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