The Japanese space probe „Hayabusa 2“ has probably landed briefly on the asteroid Ryugu. „It seems that the landing was successful,“ said a spokeswoman for the Japanese space agency Jaxa today the news agency AFP. A final confirmation is still pending. The incoming data would have to be further evaluated.
„Hayabusa 2“ dropped the German-French lander „Mascot“ over the asteroid 300 million kilometers away from Earth last October. The lander then collected data for around 17 hours. The German-French-Japanese mission is to provide new insights into the genesis of our solar system, as well as the possibility of fending off an asteroid should it collide with the Earth.
Hayabusa 2, on its very short landing, was to take samples from the surface today and then return to orbit around the comet. Whether the collection of samples succeeded, will only be certain in a few days.
