Japan Asteroid Probe Hayabusa 2 Enters Target Orbit

The Japanese space probe Hayabusa 2 has successfully entered its target orbit and is on its way to meet with a distant asteroid, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials announced today in a news release.

"The Hayabusa 2... entered the target orbit to travel to the asteroid," Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials mentioned in a statement.

Hayabusa 2 is an unmanned asteroid explorer that was scheduled to swing by the earth to harness the earth's gravitational pull and then following its orbital path toward a small asteroid called Ryugu. A year ago, Hayabusa 2 was launched on Japan's main H-IIA rocket at the Tanegashima Space Center, where it left for a six-year mission to gather samples from the asteroid, which would be returned to Earth. The Tanegashima Space Center is one of Japan's largest rocket-launch complex that occupies a total area of 9,700,000 square meters.

Hayabusa 2 is expected to reach Ryugu mid-2018, where it will carry out observations for about 18 months in the region. It will also drop rover robots and a landing package for surface observation. If the mission is successful, soil samples can be returned to earth by the end of 2020.

On Dec. 3, Hayabusa 2 performed the Earth swing by, where it flew closest to the earth and passed over the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaii islands at an altitude of 3,090 km.

"All the Hayabusa 2 project team members have been working together and will continue our challenging voyage. The Hayabusa 2 gained orbit energy through the swing by to leave the Earth. The target is the asteroid 'Ryugu.' See you later, people on Earth," Project Manager Yuichi Tsuda, announced in a news release.

The mission will enable scientists to have a better understanding on the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

NASA and ESA also supported the mission and announced that "Hayabusa 2 is in good health."

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