Japanese Spacecraft Eyes Tricky Asteroid Landing
Hyabusa2 is currently about 105.5 million miles away, en route to its second asteroid rendezvous.
However, revised data collected from a global network of observatories indicates that the space rock designated as 1998 KY26 will look and behave far differently than astronomers previously theorized.
In 2010, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) made history with its Hayabusa probe, which became the first spacecraft to land on and launch from an asteroid (Itokawa) and return to Earth with samples.
Hayabusa2 continued the project's legacy by accomplishing a similar retrieval from another asteroid (Ryugu) in 2020.
No direct quote available.
Author's summary: Hyabusa2 faces challenges in asteroid landing.
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