Japan’s Ambitious Mission to an Asteroid

On December 3^rd Hayabusa-2 a follow up for the Hyabusa probe (which landed on an asteroid Itakowa in 2005) was successfully launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan on a HII A rocket will arrive at the asteroid 1999 JU3 in 2018. Hayabusa-2 will spend 18 months to study the asteroid before returning to earth by 2020. Recently the historical launching of the Rosetta’s Philae landing on to a Comet 67P has generated tremendous enthusiasm among the space researchers and science enthusiasts alike to collect all possible information about the origin of our planet.

Unlike the Philae lander, this Japanese probe during the course of the study intends to conduct an explosion on the asteroid to collect the samples and place four devices and a small lander (MASCOT) similar to Philae lander. MASCOT lander has four imaging and magnetic sensing devices- MicrOmega, MAG, CAM and MARA. It will jump only once to change its location. Hayabusa-2 will position itself 20 km from the surface of the asteroid. The four mission instruments include a small- carry on impactor (SCI) having a 2 kg copper lump or liner which will be dropped at a velocity of 2 km/sec  on the surface of the asteroid to make an artificial crater by explosion. Second, a Near Infra red spectrometer (NIRS3) will investigate mineral and water metamorphism with near infra red rays. Third, a Thermal infrared imager (TIR) will study the thermal and temperature inertia of asteroid by capturing images of thermal radiation. It will find the particle of soil and porosity of the mass of rock that influences the temperature. Fourth, Small rovers (MINERVA-II) will hop on the asteroid surface to conduct probes. They have weights called torquers inside and hopping of rovers is facilitated by swinging of these torquers.

Other major instruments on board are the- Electric Propulsion System (Ion Engine) used for changing the orbit during Hayabusa’s onward journey to asteroid and return trip to earth. It enables the completion of trip with one tenth of the power consumption against the chemical propellant, a Sampler mechanism will collect samples on the surface of asteroid with a catcher, Target Marker will descend on to the asteroid surface as artificial landmark prior to the landing. It is structured as bean bag so that it will not bounce on the surface when it is dropped from explorer and a Re entry capsule with a container with samples from asteroid and will enter earth’s surface at 12km/sec where it will be retrieved. The main aim of the mission is to send back sizeable amounts of asteroid samples to earth by 2020.

There are millions of asteroids, which are believed to be shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies with young Sun’s solar nebula that failed to grow large enough to become planets. Asteroids are minor planets of the inner solar system and classified as objects of asteroid belt (exist between orbits of Mars and Jupiter), Jupiter Trojans (Co-orbital with Jupiter) and near-earth Asteroids (NEA). Based on spectral characteristics, asteroids are classified into C-type (carbon rich), S-type (stony) and M-type (metallic).

Asteroid 1999 JU3 has been selected as its reflectivity indicated presence of organic matter and water. Its study can provide valuable insights about origins of sea water and life on earth in addition to the mystery of earth’s formation. It is an Apollo Asteroid. It is one of the near earth asteroids (NEA) which comes close to earth’s orbit. Asteroid is 900 meters in size with rotation period of 7.6hours. While the asteroid Itakowa   explored by Hyabusa is S-type asteroid this is classified as C-type asteroid. Asteroids are believed to contain information about the origin of solar system and its later evolution. During the formation of earth most of the original materials have melted, consequently there is no way to understand the beginnings of earth. Whereas the celestial bodies like Asteroids and Comets are like time capsules which preserve the history of the place and era of birth within solar system. Exploration of these bodies yields treasured information about the how the solar system is born and how original materials of life on earth were created and evolved in space.

 

 

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