Dec 05, 2020
By Jeremy Logan
Japan’s space agency says the Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully separated a capsule and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet.
The capsule successfully detached Saturday afternoon from 136,700 miles away in a challenging operation that required precision control.
It’s now descending to land in a remote, sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia, on Sunday.
The return with the world’s first asteroid subsurface samples comes weeks after a NASA spacecraft made a successful touch-and-go grab of surface samples from another asteroid.
And China this week said its lunar lander collected underground samples as space developing nations compete in their missions.
To learn about advertising opportunities with Zoomer Radio use the link below: