A 73-member team from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will spend three weeks in quarantine ahead of the planned retrieval mission for a capsule from the Hayabusa2 space probe, which is expected to land in Australia in early December, Japan's NHK broadcaster reports on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2020) A 73-member team from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will spend three weeks in quarantine ahead of the planned retrieval mission for a capsule from the Hayabusa2 space probe, which is expected to land in Australia in early December, Japan's NHK broadcaster reports on Thursday.
According to the broadcaster, the JAXA team will spend a week in quarantine in Japan before traveling to Australia, where staffers will spend another two weeks in self-isolation as part of anti-coronavirus efforts.
The Hayabusa2 probe is expected to discharge the capsule, which contains samples taken from the Ryugu asteroid, into the Earth's atmosphere on December 6, the broadcaster stated.
Preparations for the retrieval mission are expected to begin on November 24, the broadcaster stated.
The Hayabusa2 probe was launched in 2014, and the samples were taken from the asteroid in 2019. The probe has conducted a one-year journey back toward Earth in order to deposit the capsule.
