Japan (Very Carefully) Drops Plastic Explosives Onto An Asteroid

NPR ^ | April 5, 20191:31 PM ET | Geoff Brumfiel

[Red Badger]

Early Friday morning, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft detonated an explosive device over a small asteroid. The goal was to create a fresh crater that will later be studied by the spacecraft.

Researchers watched from mission control in Sagamihara, Japan, and clapped politely as Hayabusa2 released an experiment known as the Small Carry-on Impactor. The device consisted of a copper disk packed with HMX high-explosive. Once the mothership had safely moved out of the line of fire, the impactor apparently detonated, firing the disk into the side of the asteroid. A camera released by Hayabusa2 appeared to catch the moment of impact, which sent a stream of ejecta into space.

"It went flawlessly," says Harold C. Connolly Jr., a geologist at Rowan University in New Jersey and a co-investigator on Hayabusa2.

[SCI] The deployable camera, DCAM3, successfully photographed the ejector from when the SCI collided with Ryugu’s surface. This is the world’s first collision experiment with an asteroid! In the future, we will examine the crater formed and how the ejector dispersed. pic.twitter.com/eLm6ztM4VX — HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) April 5, 2019

The asteroid is a barren piece of rock known as Ryugu, which measures less than a mile across and orbits between the Earth and Mars. Researchers believe Ryugu may be similar to the early space rocks that glommed together to make planets, including Earth. You've Been To Mars And A Comet; Japan's Space Agency Invites You To An Asteroid Space You've Been To Mars And A Comet; Japan's Space Agency Invites You To An Asteroid

"These particular asteroids are the precursors to what Earth was made from," Connolly says. Ryugu is rich in carbon, and minerals on its surface contain water and so-called prebiotic compounds that could have started life on this planet.

"Ryugu is a time capsule," says Connolly.

This is not Hayabusa2's first attack. In February, the spacecraft physically touched down on Ryugu and fired a small pellet into its surface. The dust kicked up by that opening shot was collected and eventually will provide researchers with detailed information about the asteroid's makeup.

But to really understand Ryugu, researchers also want to know what's down there, and that's why they created Friday's crater. In a few weeks, after the dust has settled, the little spacecraft will survey the blast site to see what lies beneath. It may even land a second time to collect subsurface samples.

The spacecraft is scheduled to leave Ryugu later this year, carrying its samples back to scientists here on Earth. On the return, it will eject a pod containing dust from Ryugu that is expected to land in Australia's outback

[Steely Tom]

A: "My dad gave it to me. He said "carry on, my wayward son."

[tophat9000]

Hayabusa2

Hayabusa = Falcon ..

I think

[Red Badger]

Hayabusa (Japanese: はやぶさ, "Peregrine falcon")

[seawolf101]

[ssapro]

Or worse yet would be Rodan and Godzilla.

[DBrow]

I wonder how much the asteroid orbit was modified.

[mabarker1]

I’ll second that motion !

[Red Badger]

I think that is part of the experiment, to see if it was changed and by how much................................for future possible emergency use..................

[amorphous]

it will eject a pod containing dust from Ryugu that is expected to land in Australia's outback

[nomorelurker]

That is a small part of the info they hope to get from the experiment. Bruce Willis is getting older so any extra help would be nice. Who knows maybe they accidentally nudged it into an Earth crossing orbit.

[Red Badger]

It’s already in an Earth-crossing orbit...............

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryugu

.

[blueplum]

is this the first time that anyone has transported high explosives into space?

[Red Badger]

Besides the fuel, yes, I think so................

[Lockbox]

So that’s one small bomb for mankind and one big explosion for the Asteroid!

[epluribus_2]

Dinosaurs, consider yourselves Avenged!

[ADemocratNoMore]

Gotta love the Japanese. Here we get rap-crap, there they write love songs to space probes.

A very well done tale of the original Hayabusa mission...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i28iBZx-W_E

A tale of the Hayabusa mission here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=—llY7k6Ps0

[mabarker1]

準備 H 小惑星クリーム

[ADemocratNoMore]

Second video in last post is for Hayabusa Mission II

Also found a 2nd version of the first mission...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMmWUad1wY

[DickBrannigan]

They didn’t get into full flashback mode and crash the spacecraft into the asteroid with the explosives still on board.

[Lockbox]

For those who don't read Japanese, translates to Preparation H asteroid cream

A "Your momma-san!" back at you...... John Belushi