Video of asteroid landing

[Brian G Turner]

Wow. Just wow. Video of the Japanese Hayabusa-2 probe briefly touching down on the asteroid Ryugu, as reported by the BBC website: Movie shows moment of asteroid landing

Here's a version I can embed - from YouTube - look at all the rock scattering after touchdown!

 

[-K2-]

The way I read it, all of the rock scattering is from the tantalum projectile fired into it to generate debris to be collected. I wonder if the 'collection horn' we see caught anything?

K2

 

[Brian G Turner]

Ah, yes, you're right - I thought the landing itself had disturbed the rocks. I hadn't realized the probe had fired a bullet into them.

AMAZING video: Hayabusa-2 shot a bullet at an asteroid and collected the shrapnel

*Must-see* footage of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft shooting a bullet into the asteroid Ryugu, scattering rocks and dust into space for a sample collection.

www.syfy.com

 

[Hugh]

And here's what the rocks look like back on Earth:

Hayabusa-2: Pieces of an asteroid found inside space capsule

Scientists in Japan open the Hayabusa-2 space capsule that landed just over a week ago.

www.bbc.co.uk