&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Probe carries out record flyby of asteroid 100mn km from Earth - 'It gave me goosebumps'")
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released a photo of an asteroid 100 million kilometres away from Earth. The image was taken by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, a probe which previously returned samples from asteroid Ryugu. It was supposed to come within 2,625 feet of the asteroid, Torifune, although JAXA hasn't confirmed how close it actually got. The asteroid looks like a snowman, with two rocks attached to each other. Scientists say the mission was aimed at demonstrating the ability to deflect an asteroid in space.
JAXA scientist Yuya Mimasu expressed his excitement at the close imagery, saying that it gave him "goosebumps" and that it "personally looked like a snowman." The photo was taken by a telescopic camera. Mimasu said that he was not expecting to get such a photo, and he is "absolutely over the moon". The space agency confirmed that this is the closest flyby of a near-Earth asteroid ever. Three other devices that measure the distance from the asteroid and examine the existence of water also gathered data on the space rock.
Asteroid 98943 Torifune
The near-Earth asteroid is travelling in deep space and live orbital tracking puts it at a distance of 95.3 million kilometres from Earth. It has a diameter of 1,475 feet and could come as close as 12.4 million kilometres to our planet in the future. It goes around the Sun in 383 days, moving at a speed of more than 18,000 kilometres. Its next close pass to Earth will happen in October 2027 when it will be 22 million kilometres away.
Hayabusa2 accolades and future missions
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Hayabusa2 was launched in 2014 to study the asteroid Ryugu, nearly 300 million kilometres from our planet. The 3,000 ft space rock has been classified as a potentially hazardous object. Hayabusa2 brought back valuable information that shed light on what the universe was like billions of years ago. The material is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, while the asteroid took shape only about a billion years ago. Hayabusa2's next mission is to carry out a close flyby or land on asteroid 1998KY26 in 2031.
