Landing of Japan's Hayabusa2 Probe on Asteroid Ryugu Postponed Until January - JAXA
The touchdown of the Japanese Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer on Ryugu, initially scheduled to take place this month, has been postponed until late January, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on Thursday.
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2018) The touchdown of the Japanese Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer on Ryugu, initially scheduled to take place this month, has been postponed until late January, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on Thursday.
The agency said at a press conference it had received new data about the surface of the asteroid, which is rougher than initially thought, adding that more time is needed to test the capabilities of the probe.
Hayabusa2 will hold two landing rehearsals this month, the agency added. Last week, it successfully launched a new observation robot MASCOT toward Ryugu.
Hayabusa2 asteroid sample-return mission was launched in December 2014 and is expected to return to Earth in December 2020.