On December 3rd 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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