Japanese Probe Snags Asteroid Sample

Space.com ^ | 02/21/2019 | Mike Wall

[BenLurkin]

A Japanese asteroid probe has grabbed its first space-rock sample.

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully nabbed bits of the 3,000-foot-wide (900 meters) asteroid Ryugu today (Feb. 21; Feb. 22 Japan time), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials announced.

Hayabusa2 spiraled down to Ryugu's surface, fired a 0.2-ounce (5 grams) tantalum "bullet" into the boulder-strewn rock at close range, and collected pieces of the ejected material using its specialized "sampling horn," JAXA officials said during a press conference this evening.

…

Hayabusa2's main goal is to help scientists better understand the solar system's early history and evolution, as well as the role that carbon-rich asteroids such as Ryugu may have played in life's emergence on Earth.

The collected samples are key to this objective: The Ryugu material will come down to Earth in a special return capsule in December 2020. Scientists in labs around the world can then scrutinize the stuff with far more advanced equipment than the Hayabusa2 team could pack onto a single spacecraft.

The sample bounty will include more than just the material Hayabusa2 collected today. The mothership is expected to grab two more samples in the coming weeks and months. The second sampling sortie will unfold much like today's did, but the third will be dramatically different: Hayabusa2 will fire a copper projectile into Ryugu, wait a bit for the dust to clear, and then swoop in to grab material from the newly created crater. This formerly subsurface stuff will be pristine, unaffected by weathering from deep-space radiation.

[Fungi]

So they went to collect rocks, what a little boy does on a walk.

[Simon Green]

So they went to collect rocks, what a little boy does on a walk.

[DBrow]

Hayabusa2’s main goal is to help scientists better understand the solar system’s early history

And they are not prospecting for iridium group metals.

[Larry Lucido]

So they went to collect rocks

And shoot at them!

[Deaf Smith]

To put in ballistic understanding, the 1/2 oz bullet weighed about 87.5 grains.

Would be helpful if they gave us the projectile diameter and muzzle velocity.

[steve86]

I saw a Hayabusa passing traffic at nearly 200 mph.

[Deaf Smith]

The third sampling may be interesting.

They plan to use a copper projectile, which may be in the form of a shaped charge.

Something like a miniature RPG?

[steve86]

“muzzle velocity”

There is no atmosphere to slow it down post-muzzle.

[Simon Green]

I couldn’t find the diameter of the projectile, but Wikipedia says the velocity is 300 meters per second.

So ballistically, it’s a .380 ACP.

[OrioleFan]

Hayabusa2 spiraled down to Ryugu’s surface, fired a 0.2-ounce (5 grams) tantalum “bullet” into the boulder-strewn rock at close range, and collected pieces of the ejected material using its specialized “sampling horn,” JAXA officials said during a press conference this evening.

Isn’t Ryugu a “Gun Free” zone? /sarc

[Simon Green]

There is no atmosphere to slow it down post-muzzle.

There is, however, a rather large rock in the projectile’s way. :-)

[Deaf Smith]

Yeah, like someone would set up a chronograph 10 ft from the muzzle in space. /s

[OrioleFan]

John Kerry fired the shot, was hit by a flying piece of rock, claimed the Space Force first Purple Heart, and promptly threw it over the White House fence when he got home. /sarc

[steve86]

Yes, it seems to be a point blank shot for that initial projectile.

[steve86]

Wouldn’t it have been funny if the projectile bounced off the rock and ricocheted into the capture mechanism leaving the Japanese scientists puzzled.

[mosesdapoet]

first report helps fill in info
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3729542/posts

[spokeshave]

I just hope it doesn't wake up the Ryugugians.

[NonValueAdded]

Well played

[lurk]

People who accomplish space exploration are amazing.