Hayabusa 2 and MASCOT, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tokyo, Japan

In 2014, the Japanese Hayabusa-2 spacecraft will be launched en route to asteroid 1999 JU3. On board will be a very special passenger - the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, better known as MASCOT. After a four-year journey, the spacecraft will reach the asteroid in 2018, and for the first time take measurements on the surface of an asteroid. A release mechanism will eject MASCOT from the spacecraft, setting it on its way to complete the last few metres to the asteroid.

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Japan aerospace exploration agency showed the media its new asteroid explorer "Hayabusa 2" ,it has a new amazing technology , more in the video

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JAXA was broadcasted a live report of the Asteroid Explorer Hayabusa2’s
launch by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.26 (H-IIA F26) from the
Tanegashima Space Center. The report will cover launch events from the
liftoff to the payload separation from the launch vehicle.

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JASA’s Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” approaches Asteroid Ryugu and took a series of images with the ONC-T (Optical Navigation Camera – Telescopic). Asteroid Ryugu is seen from a distance of 220-100km between 18 - 20 June 2018 and from approximately 40 km on 24 June 2018. The Hayabusa2 team notes that Ryugu (162173 Ryugu, or 1999 JU3) appears to have a land of rich terrain, with numerous clusters of rock roll on the surface. Hayabusa2’s arrival at Ryugu is scheduled for around 27 June 2018.
Credit : JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, Aizu University, AIST

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"Some of the rarest, most precious materials on Earth originated very, very far away, and are only available to us now because of the incredible Hayabusa mission of JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The Hayabusa spacecraft landed on asteroid 25143 Itokawa in November 2005, collecting tiny grains of material and bringing them back to Earth.

Find out more about these incredibly foreign bodies and the mission to collect them in this video, originally created as part of ESA’s joint, live webcast with ESO for Asteroid Day 2018.

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JAXA’s MINERVA-II1B rover captured imagery from the surface of asteroid Ryugu on Sept. 23, 2018. -- Japan's Two Hopping Rovers Successfully Land on Asteroid: Ryugu

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The Hayabusa-2 spacecraft deployed the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) to land on Asteroid Ryugu. Imagery of the descent of Hayabusa2 and Mascot towards the space rock have been compiled here.

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JAXA’s Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” collected a sample from asteroid Ryugu on 22 February 2019. The touchdown was captured using the onboard small monitor camera (CAM-H). The image of the site immediately after touchdown was taken with the Optical Navigation Camera – Wide angle (ONC-W1) on 22 February 2019.

Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, Aizu University, AIST

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JAXA’s Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” performed a second touchdown to collect a sample from asteroid Ryugu on 11 July 2019. The video was created from images captured with Hayabusa2’s CAM-H at intervals between 0.5s and 5s and played back at 10x speed.
The first image was taken at an altitude of about 8.5m and the last is from an altitude of about 150m.

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JAXA’s Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” departed the orbit of asteroid Ryugu on 13 November 2019. The video was created from images captured with Hayabusa2’s navigation camera. Hayabusa2 is scheduled to return samples from asteroid Ryugu to Earth at the end of 2020.

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JAXA’s Asteroid Explorer “Hayabusa2” capsule re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and successfully landed in Australia on 5 December 2020. The samples collected from asteroid Ryugu have been recovered by JAXA.

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