Japan’s all-ambitious space probe Hayabusa II is about to attempt a delicate to-the-point touchdown on the planetoid Ryugu in the morning of February 22, says JAXA. Mission Manager Makoto Yoshikawa says his team is all out to accomplish what “we had set out to do”.
The probe left Tanegashima four years ago on a 300 million-kilo space tour to Ryugu and attempted and failed in its initial touchdown last October due to Ryugu’s rugged surfaces. The team has since searched for flatter areas and managed to find a relatively flat space 60 centimeters across. Named L08-E1, the tiny area about the size of the pitcher’s mound in a ballpark will provide the stage of long-awaited rock-collecting activities of Hayabusa II short of two days away.
Mission Manager M. Yoshikawa told the press today:
“We are very excited as we know anything can happen till the moment of touchdown. We have learned from our past experience and we till do out utmost to accomplish our mission.”
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