elizabethtasker, 1 month ago to vr

Our Communication Hall on the JAXA Sagamihara Campus has got a cool new exhibit! Step inside this dome and you’ll see a video of the #Hayabusa2 spacecraft touching down on asteroid Ryugu! You have a choice of 4 buttons that lets you change your view, and in June, there’ll be controls to let you try your own landing! It’s been designed with #VSP (Virtual Space Program) who are a group in Japan who develop really outstanding #VR content.

A view of the exhibit from the outside. The enclosure is triangular shaped, with the semi-circular dome bulging out the back.

elizabethtasker, 1 month ago to random

Who wants to name an #asteroid?

... and where do those alphabet soup monikers come from?

The Science Museum in London has published a blog post on asteroid naming, and describing the #Hayabusa2 campaign to name asteroid 2001 CC21!

https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/want-a-chance-to-name-an-asteroid/

mattotcha, 4 months ago to random

Rethinking Cosmic Origins: The Ryugu Asteroid Samples’ Revelatory Findings
https://scitechdaily.com/rethinking-cosmic-origins-the-ryugu-asteroid-samples-revelatory-findings/ #asteroid #ryugu #samples #planetary #embryos #Hayabusa2 #JAXA

elizabethtasker, 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago) to random

TONIGHT (11/28) at 12:30 UTC/21:30 JST it'll be the LAST AND GREATEST public seminar on sample return missions.

And... I will be chairing 🪑, asking BLISTERING QUESTIONS to our panel, who include NASA & JAXA people working on the curation of grains from Apollo, #OSIRISREx, #Hayabusa2 and the upcoming #MMX mission, and the Smithsonian Museum who grabbed a grain from asteroid Bennu to display.

Link to sign up for the (free) zoom. You know what you gotta do 📺 :
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/researchers/research-events/space-seminar-series-3

elizabethtasker, 6 months ago to random

#JAXA ISAS Curation have released a new postcard of all-time FAVOURITE grains from the #asteroid #Ryugu sample returns by #Hayabusa2 😂

Clockwise from top left we have a grain that shows space weathering, one that contains amino acids, one with carbonates and one with tiny fluid inclusions.

However, the BEST part is the little character drawn by Tahara Rui (curation researcher) of a dragon wrapped around Ryugu (whose name means “dragon palace”). I want this as a plushie!

Adorable cartoon on the reverse side of the postcard. It shows a sketch of asteroid Ryugu with a dragon character wrapped around it.

elizabethtasker, 7 months ago to space

Can you tell your #Hayabusa2 from your #OSIRISREx?

These #JAXA and #NASA missions both collected a sample from an asteroid and returned to Earth. But sample return is crazy difficult, and there's still no established way of pulling off this stunt. The two spacecraft therefore used very different tech.

Here are 7 differences between the two missions!

A chalkboard video running through 7 differences between the Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, from propulsion through to sampling technique. OSIRIS-REx was heavier with traditional chemical propulsion, orbited around asteroid Bennu, had great telephoto cameras, and blew gas into the rocks to collect a large sample of sandy material. Hayabusa2 used light ion engine propulsion, hovered by asteroid Ryugu, collected a smaller quantity of rocky and sandy material from 2 sites, and had a hermetic seal on the sample capsule.

elizabethtasker, 7 months ago to random

I know twitter is usually awful, but the JAXA #Hayabusa2 team have posted a thread of congratulations messages to the NASA #OSIRISREx team, and the support that different missions from different countries have for one another is why I'm in space science.

The enthusiasm at JAXA (and actually, everyone I've met at other agencies) to support all endeavours is a glimmer of hope in what can feel like pretty dark times.

Four messages from Hayasbusa2 team members, all saying congratulations and expressing excitement for the analysis and extended mission. Team members are Tsuda Yuichi (Project Manager), Mimasu Yuya (spacecraft operations on Hayabusa2 extended mission), Yabuta Hikaru (Analysis lea for organic macromolecules) and Tachibana Shogo (lead for the sampler and initial analysis)
Four more messages from Kouyama Toru (on the Optical Navigation Camera team), Yoshikawa Makoto (Mission Manager), Oshima Takeshi (from NEC, the company that helped develop the spacecraft), and Takimoto Koji (on the extended mission science team)

spaceflight, 11 months ago to space

🇯🇵 #JAXA 📆 June 7, 2023 #Hayabusa2 #Ryugu ☄️mission summary 🔬 : #minerals were found to have formed about 5 million years after the start of the #SolarSystem 🌌 (now 4.56 billion years old). https://cosmos.isas.jaxa.jp/the-sample-from-asteroid-ryugu-summary-early-2023/
The #NASA #osirisrex mission is scheduled to bring a sample from asteroid #Bennu back to #Earth 🌏 this September.

#AsteroidScience #AsteroidMining

elizabethtasker, 11 months ago to random

In December 2020, the #Hayabusa2 spacecraft dropped a sealed container into the Australian desert 🛰️🦘. Inside were grains from asteroid #Ryugu 🪨. Scientists from all over the world can now apply to study these grains, but what were the main outcomes from the mission and the initial analysis of the sample? Buckle up, it’s time for a MEGA SUMMARY! 📋🥼🧪 (My latest for JAXA ISAS Cosmos) 🔗 https://cosmos.isas.jaxa.jp/the-sample-from-asteroid-ryugu-summary-early-2023/

thejapantimes, 1 year ago to space

JAXA is considering a new mission to collect samples from a small astronomical body, hoping to utilize the technology from the Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer projects. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/04/30/national/science-health/jaxa-new-hayabusa-mission/?utm_content=bufferc4585&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bufferapp.com&utm_campaign=buffer #news #japan #jaxa #astronomy #asteroids #hayabusa2 #space