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They Made It! Japan's Two Hopping Rovers Successfully Land on Asteroid Ryugu
space.com ^

Posted on 09/22/2018 7:10:44 AM PDT by BenLurkin

The rovers are part of the MINERVA-II1 program, and are designed to hop along the asteroid's surface, taking photographs and gathering data. In fact, one of the initial images sent home by the hoppers is awfully blurry, since the robot snapped it while still on the go.

In order to complete the deployment, the main spacecraft of the Hayabusa2 mission lowered itself carefully down toward the surface until it was just 120 feet (55 meters) up. After the rovers were on their way, the spacecraft raised itself back up to its typical altitude of about 12.5 miles above the asteroid's surface (20 kilometers).

The agency still has two more deployments yet to accomplish before it can rest easy: Hayabusa2 is scheduled to deploy a larger rover called MASCOT in October and another tiny hopper next year. And of course, the main spacecraft has a host of other tasks to accomplish during its stay at Ryugu — most notably, to collect a sample of the primitive world to bring home to Earth for laboratory analysis.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Japan
KEYWORDS: asteroid; asteroids; astronomy; hayabusa2; japan; mascot; ryugu; science

1 posted on 09/22/2018 7:10:44 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

I didn’t even know that was in the works. Congratulations to the Land of the Rising Sun!

I will be following it now, however.

Thank you for the post.


2 posted on 09/22/2018 7:18:23 AM PDT by MichaelCorleone (Jesus Christ is not a religion. He's the Truth.)
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To: MichaelCorleone

Awesome achievement, we hope later news comes on the mission’s findings. Space, the final frontier.


3 posted on 09/22/2018 7:25:02 AM PDT by RicocheT (Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.)
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To: BenLurkin

That’s quite a feat and the pictures are amazing. Thanks for posting.


4 posted on 09/22/2018 7:25:45 AM PDT by laplata (Leftists/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: BenLurkin

and now the bad news... the japanese rovers have shifted the asteroid’s orbit and impact with the earth is imminent.


5 posted on 09/22/2018 7:28:17 AM PDT by teeman8r (Armageddon won't be pretty, but it's not like it's the end of the world.)
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To: teeman8r
May I suggest here?

21°25'21.02"N 39°49'34.58"E

6 posted on 09/22/2018 7:39:00 AM PDT by null and void (The big problem is that the republicans don't keep their campaign promises and the democrats do!)
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To: BenLurkin

7 posted on 09/22/2018 7:41:14 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: teeman8r

lol


8 posted on 09/22/2018 7:41:51 AM PDT by laplata (Leftists/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: BenLurkin

.......and awaken a badly animated slumbering reptilian monster which will now devastate earth despite heavy resistance by toy tanks and tiny airplanes hanging from wires.


9 posted on 09/22/2018 7:47:44 AM PDT by CrazyIvan (A gentleman arms himself for the protection of others.)
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To: BenLurkin; Whenifhow; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

p


10 posted on 09/22/2018 8:04:27 AM PDT by bitt (We know not what course others may take, but as for me, Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!)
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To: CrazyIvan

LOL!!


11 posted on 09/22/2018 8:42:58 AM PDT by bitt (We know not what course others may take, but as for me, Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!)
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To: BenLurkin

If you’re wondering why they hop instead of roll, it’s because the gravity there is 1/80,000 of Earth... Not much traction!


12 posted on 09/22/2018 8:46:12 AM PDT by BobL (I eat at McDonald's and shop at Walmart - I just don't tell anyone.)
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To: All

55 meters is around 180 feet, not 120 feet.


13 posted on 09/22/2018 11:53:13 AM PDT by pluvmantelo (I refuse to be cannon fodder in the Left's war on reality!)
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To: BenLurkin

Kinda neat that they manage to land on a 3,000 rock that is 180 million miles away.


14 posted on 09/22/2018 1:07:51 PM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: BenLurkin

they better hop carefully or they might tip it over


15 posted on 09/22/2018 5:48:48 PM PDT by blueplum ( "...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017)
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To: BenLurkin

“Hayabusa2,” not to be confused with Suzuki’s Hayabusa motortcycle, one of the fasted stock bikes in the world.

Unless they are sending superbikes into space!


16 posted on 09/23/2018 5:54:03 AM PDT by Candor7 ((Obama Fascism)http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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