Two Japanese robots sent to the ground film images from the surface of a moving asteroid. The mission of these robots is unprecedented and aims to shed light on the origin of the solar system.
The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (Jaxa) published a 15-second clip, as well as photographs from the asteroid surface. The robots were deployed on the asteroid by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft after a three-and-a-half-year trip.
This is the first mission to document and observe the movement of a nearby asteroid.
Rover-1B succeeded in shooting a movie on Ryugu's surface! The movie has 15 frames captured on September 23, 2018 from 10:34 - 11:48 JST. Enjoy 'standing' on the surface of this asteroid! [6/6] pic.twitter.com/57avmjvdVa
- HAYABUSA2 @ JAXA (@ haya2e_jaxa) September 27, 2018
The images reveal the flat and sudden surface of the Ryugu asteroid. In the background, the sky looks black.
Also, Jaxa posted high-resolution photographs of Ryugu's surface, realized by the Hayabusa2 camera. The photos fired when the spacecraft approached the surface to release the robots.
Thanks to its low gravity, robots can jump over 15 meters in height and stay in the air for almost 15 minutes.
Next month, Hayabusa2 will position a device that will explode on the asteroid and launch a 2 kilogram copper rocket. The rocket will open a small crater from which will be taken samples of thousands of millennium protected materials from winds and radiation. It is expected that the samples will reveal data on the origin of life on Earth.
The mission was launched in December 2014 and will return to Earth along with the samples in 2020.
Source: The Guardian
