Global space news: the importance of planetary defence

The re-entry capsule & parachute from Hayabusa2 where it was spotted in the Woomera desert in Australia (JAXA).

Helping to bring an asteroid home

(A) DCAM3 image of the ejecta created during the SCI impact, with four separate rays of material. (B) ONC optical image of the impact site, with numbers corresponding to the ejecta rays in (A). (C). Change in reflectivity before and after the SCI impact. Darker regions are thought to indicate material ejected from below the surface. (Figure 4 in Arakawa et al., Science 2020.)

Creating a crater to constrain the age of an asteroid’s surface

Temperature distribution over the shape model of asteroid Ryugu, using data taken by the Hayabusa2 TIR thermal imager on August 1, 2018 (Okada et al, Nature 2020).

Are primitive asteroids “fluffy”?

Asteroid Ryugu from an altitude of 6km. Image was captured with the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on July 20, 2018. (JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST.)

Hayabusa2: mapping Ryugu’s extraordinary past

This artist’s conception shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft extending its sampling arm as it moves in to make contact with the asteroid Bennu. Credits: NASA/GSFC

The X-factor: The collaboration between Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx

Artist impression of Hayabusa2 above the Earth. [Akihiro Ikeshita / JAXA]

Planetary Protection and Our Search for Life