Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Releases Its Final Probe for Exploring Asteroid Ryugu gizmodo.com

Image: JAXAThe tiny Minerva-II2 probe is now en route to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, having been deployed by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft on Thursday.
Hayabusa2 released the Minerva-II2 probe at 12:57 a.m. Japan time on October 3 (11:57 p.m.
AdvertisementIn June 2018, Hayabusa2 arrived at Ryugu—a 1-kilometer-wide asteroid located some 280 million kilometers (174 million) miles from Earth.
Image: JAXAAdvertisementThe current mission is quite different from Hayabusa2’s previous robotic deployment, when the spacecraft deployed the Minerva-II1A and Minerva-II1B probes on September 22, 2019.
AdvertisementAfter releasing Minerva-II2, Hayabusa2 retreated to an altitude between 8 and 10 kilometers (5 and 6 miles), from where it will continue to monitor the lander.