Hayabusa 2 to trigger explosion to form crater on asteroid April 5

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The Hayabusa 2 space probe will blast a crater into the asteroid Ryugu on April 5 and later collect rocks, sand and possibly organic matter, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.

JAXA said March 18 that it plans to land Hayabusa 2 on the asteroid to gather samples from the crater as early as the end of May.

In its first landing on Ryugu on Feb. 22, the probe fired a bullet into the surface and collected samples raised by the impact.

The unprecedented second mission is intended to gather subterranean samples that have not been affected by solar light or other elements and have a greater possibility of containing water or signs of life than the samples from the surface.

A “small carry-on impactor” device will separate from Hayabusa 2 and explode 200 to 300 meters above the asteroid. The detonation will send a 2-kilogram copper mass crashing into Ryugu at a speed of 2 kilometers per second.

The candidate site for the impact is close to the asteroid’s equator and about 800 meters east of the space probe’s landing point in February.

The crater will have a diameter of dozens of centimeters, according to JAXA.

Hayabusa 2 will move about 4 kilometers and stay behind the asteroid to avoid the impact of the explosion.

Also before the blast, a camera will detach from Hayabusa 2 to shoot scenes of the crater creation.

JAXA will observe the crater through these images before deciding when exactly to land Hayabusa 2.

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