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JAXA's Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully lands on asteroid Ryugu

By Shane McGlaun/

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA has announced that the Hayabusa2 spacecraft has touched down on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. Japan launched Hayabusa2 back in December of 2014. After years of hurtling towards the asteroid Ryugu, the touchdown has been confirmed on its surface.

The goal of landing the spacecraft on the surface of Ryugu was to allow Hayabusa2 to fire a strong projectile into the surface of the asteroid to kick up dust and rocks that it would gather to return to Earth for future study. JAXA has a live website that details what Hayabusa2 is doing that is now available in English. The agency has been celebrating its successful landing, which is a milestone in a mission that has spanned years.

The next phase of the mission will be to leave the surface of the asteroid with samples in tow and return the materials to Earth for study. The projectile that Hayabusa2 had inside was ordered to fire, and JAXA said that all was well with the spacecraft in a recent update.

JAXA did release a video of the projectile being fired into the surface of the asteroid in real time. The video is also put into slow motion so we can see the impact crater.

In September, the spacecraft sent back some of the highest resolution images of the surface of Ryugu ever seen. It's not clear how long Hayabusa2 will remain on the surface of the asteroid.

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