Hayabusa 2: Japan probe to send lander to asteroid
Japan's space agency (Jaxa) is about to send a 10kg lander to the surface of an asteroid.
The Hayabusa-2 spacecraft will release the German-French Mascot lander onto the asteroid 162173 Ryugu on Wednesday.
Mascot will then analyse the asteroid's surface properties, including its mineral composition and magnetic field.
Hayabusa-2 reached the asteroid Ryugu in June this year after a three-and-a-half-year journey.
On 21 September, Jaxa celebrated a first, as its "mothership" deployed two robot explorers to the surface of Ryugu.
Now, it's the turn of the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (Mascot), which has been built by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the French Space Agency (Cnes).
Hayabusa-2 spent Tuesday reducing its altitude from its "home position" of 20km above the asteroid. At about 02:00 BST, and at an altitude of about 56m from Ryugu's surface, Mascot will be commanded to separate from its Japanese "mothership".
Mascot will then touch down at its pre-selected landing site. Mission planners expect it to bounce before coming to a stop.
"Of course, we have a very low gravitational field there," said Dr Ralf Jaumann, the principal investigator for Mascot.
"This means the gravity is so low that Mascot more or less flies down, similarly to a piece of paper falling onto a table from a height of 30cm."
The 9.6kg (21lbs) science package will then begin its investigation of the asteroid surface. Mascot will study Ryugu's mineral make-up, temperature and magnetic characteristics.
The lander's payload consists of four science instruments, an infrared microscope called MicrOmega, a camera called MASCAM, a radiometer for measuring the power of electromagnetic radiation (MARA) and a magnetometer to measure magnetic forces (MASMAG).
"The goal is to really understand the asteroid," said Christian Krause, the operations manager for Mascot.
"Understanding how everything here formed - our Earth and the other planets. This is what we are trying to investigate."
Ralf Jaumann added: "The question of where the water on Earth originates hasn't really been answered yet."
We know that asteroids contain water today. Some scientists think that both asteroids and comets could have delivered water to Earth in the early days of the Solar System, when they collided with our planet.
Hayabusa-2 was launched from the Tanegashima Launch Center in far southern Japan on 3 December 2014. It has been carrying a number of instrument payloads for release on to the surface of its target, Ryugu.
On 21 September, it released two robot rovers onto Ryugu, which quickly returned images and the first video ever sent from the surface of an asteroid.
In late October, the spacecraft will descend to the surface to collect a sample of rock and soil.
Even further on in the mission, Jaxa plans to detonate an explosive charge that will punch a crater in Ryugu.
Hayabusa-2 would then descend into the crater to collect fresh rocks that have not been altered by aeons of exposure to the environment of space.
These samples will then be sent to Earth for laboratory studies.
Quelle: BBC
+++
MASCOT landete sicher auf dem Asteroiden Ryugu
Der Asteroid Ryugu hat in 300 Millionen Kilometern Entfernung von der Erde einen neuen Bewohner: Lander MASCOT wurde am 3. Oktober 2018 auf dem Asteroiden abgesetzt und nahm seine Arbeit auf. Um 3.58 Uhr Mitteleuropäischer Zeit wurde das Landegerät erfolgreich von der japanischen Raumsonde Hayabusa2 getrennt. Damit beginnen für das internationale Team aus Ingenieuren und Wissenschaftler die 16 Stunden, in denen der Lander mit Messungen auf der Asteroidenoberfläche beginnt. Am Tag zuvor hatte sich die Sonde Hayabusa2 der japanischen Raumfahrtagentur auf den Weg in Richtung Ryugu gemacht. In einer Höhe von 51 Metern wurde MASCOT ausgeklinkt und fiel im freien Fall – langsamer als ein irdischer Fußgänger – auf sein Ziel, den Asteroiden, zu. Im MASCOT-Kontrollraum am Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) sowie im angrenzenden Wissenschaftlerraum war die Erleichterung über die erfolgreiche Separation und die Bestätigung der Landung deutlich spürbar: „Es hätte nicht besser laufen können“, erklärte MASCOT-Projektmanagerin Dr. Tra-Mi Ho vom DLR-Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme. „Aus den Betriebsdaten des Landers konnten wir erkennen, dass er sich von der Raumsonde trennte und nach rund 20 Minuten auf der Asteroidenoberfläche zur Ruhe kam.“
Bereits der Moment der Separation gehört zu den Risiken während der Mission: Wäre MASCOT nicht wie geplant und oftmals getestet ohne Probleme aus dem Mutterschiff separiert worden, hätte das irdische Team kaum Möglichkeiten gehabt, dieses Problem zu beheben. Doch alles verlief reibunglos: Bereits während des Abstiegs auf den Asteroiden schaltete die Kamera MASCAM ein und nahm 20 Bilder auf, die nun an Bord der japanischen Sonde gespeichert sind. „Die Kamera funktionierte perfekt“, sagt Prof. Ralf Jaumann, DLR-Planetenforscher und wissenschaftlicher Leiter des Kamera-Instruments. „Damit sind dem Team die ersten Bilder der Kamera sicher.“ Auch das Team des Magnetometers konnte in den von MASCOT gesendeten Daten erkennen, dass das Instrument bereits der vor der Separation einschaltete und Messungen durchführte. „Die Messungen zeigen das relativ schwache Feld des Sonnenwindes und die sehr starken magnetischen Störungen durch das Raumfahrzeug“, erläutert Prof. Karl-Heinz Glaßmeier von der Technischen Universität Braunschweig. „Im Moment der Separation erwarteten wir eine deutliche Abnahme des Störfeldes – und diese wir konnten wir auch deutlich erkennen.“
Schon 20 Minuten nach der Separation kam MASCOT auf der Oberfläche zur Ruhe. Nun analysiert das Team die Betriebsdaten, die MASCOT zur Erde sendet, um zu erfahren, was in 300 Millionen Kilometern Entfernung von der Erde auf dem Asteroiden Ryugu geschieht. Der Lander sollte nun auf der Asteroidenoberfläche liegen, sich mit seinem Schwungarm im Inneren in die richtige Position gebracht haben und selbstständig mit den Messungen beginnen. An Bord befinden sich insgesamt vier Instrumente: eine Kamera sowie ein Radiometer des DLR, ein Spektrometer des Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale sowie ein Magnetometer der TU Braunschweig. Hat MASCOT alle geplanten Messungen durchgeführt, soll er zu einem weiteren Mess-Ort hüpfen. So erhalten die Wissenschaftler erstmals Daten von unterschiedlichen Stellen auf einem Asteroiden. „Mit MASCOT haben wir die einzigartige Möglichkeit, das ursprüngliche Material des Sonnensystems unmittelbar auf einem Asteroiden zu untersuchen“, betont DLR-Planetenforscher Prof. Ralf Jaumann. Mit MASCOTs gemessenen Daten und den Proben, die Hayabusa2 im Jahr 2020 von Ryugu zur Erde bringt, lernen die Wissenschaftler nicht nur mehr über Asteroiden, sondern vor allem über die Entstehung unseres Sonnensystems. „Asteroiden sind sehr ursprüngliche Himmelskörper.“
Über die Mission Hayabusa2 und MASCOT
Hayabusa2 ist eine Weltraummission der japanischen Raumfahrtagentur JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) zum erdnahen Asteroiden Ryugu. Der deutsch-französische Lander MASCOT an Bord von Hayabusa2 wurde vom Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) entwickelt und gebaut in enger Kooperation mit der französischen Raumfahrtagentur CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales). Die wissenschaftlichen Experimente an Bord von MASCOT sind Beiträge des DLR, des Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale und der Technischen Universität Braunschweig. Betrieb und Steuerung des MASCOT-Landers und seiner Experimente erfolgen durch das DLR mit Unterstützung der CNES und in kontinuierlichem Austausch mit der JAXA.
Das DLR-Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme in Bremen entwickelte federführend zusammen mit CNES den Lander und testete ihn. Das DLR-Institut für Faserverbundleichtbau und Adaptronik in Braunschweig war für die stabile Struktur des Landers zuständig. Das DLR Robotik und Mechatronik Zentrum in Oberpfaffenhofen entwickelte den Schwungarm, der MASCOT auf dem Asteroiden hüpfen lässt, und passt dessen Bewegungen mithilfe der neuesten Messungen von Hayabusa2 an die Eigenschaften von Ryugu an. Das DLR-Institut für Planetenforschung in Berlin steuerte die Kamera MASCAM und das Radiometer MARA bei. Überwacht und betrieben wird der Asteroidenlander aus dem MASCOT-Kontrollzentrum im Nutzerzentrum für Weltraumexperimente (MUSC) am DLR-Standort Köln.
Quelle: DLR
+++
MASCOT lands safely on asteroid Ryugu
The near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, located approximately 300 million kilometres from Earth, has a new inhabitant: On 3 October 2018, the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) landed on the asteroid and began to work. The lander successfully separated from the Japanese Hayabusa2 space probe at 03:58 CEST. The 16 hours in which the lander will conduct measurements on the asteroid’s surface have begun for the international team of engineers and scientists. The day before, the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 began its descent towards Ryugu. MASCOT was ejected at an altitude of 51 metres and descended in free fall – slower than an earthly pedestrian – to its destination, the asteroid. The relief about the successful separation and subsequent confirmation of the landing was clearly noticeable In the MASCOT Control Centre at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) as well as in the adjoining room: "It could not have gone better," explained MASCOT project manager Tra-Mi Ho from the DLR Institute of Space Systems. "From the lander's telemetry, we were able to see that it separated from the mothercraft, and made contact with the asteroid surface approximately 20 minutes later." The team is now in contact with the lander.
The moment of separation was one of the risks of the mission: If MASCOT had not successfully separated from Hayabusa2 as planned and often tested, the lander’s team would hardly have had the opportunity to solve this problem. But everything went smoothly: Already during the descent on the asteroid, the camera switched MASCAM on and took 20 pictures, which are now stored on board the Japanese space probe. "The camera worked perfectly," says Ralf Jaumann, DLR planetary scientist and scientific director of the camera instrument. "The team's first images of the camera are therefore safe." The magnetometer team was also able to recognise in the data sent by MASCOT that the MASMAG instrument had switched on and performed measurements prior to the separation. "The measurements show the relatively weak field of the solar wind and the very strong magnetic disturbances caused by the spacecraft," explains Karl-Heinz Glaßmeier from the Technical University of Braunschweig. "At the moment of the separation, we expected a clear decrease of the interference field – and we were able to recognise this clearly."
MASCOT came to rest on the surface approximately 20 minutes after the separation. Now, the team is analysing the data that MASCOT is sending to Earth to understand the events occurring on the asteroid Ryugu. The lander should now be on the asteroid’s surface, in the correct position thanks to its swing arm, and have started to conduct measurements independently. There are four instruments on board: a DLR camera and radiometer, an infrared spectrometer from the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale and a magnetometer from the TU Braunschweig. Once MASCOT has performed all planned measurements, it is expected to hop to another measuring location. This is the first time that scientists will receive data from different locations on an asteroid. "With MASCOT, we have the unique opportunity to study the Solar System’s most primordial material directly on an asteroid," emphasises DLR planetary researcher Ralf Jaumann. With the data acquired by MASCOT and the samples that Hayabusa2 brings to Earth from Ryugu in 2020, scientists will not only learn more about asteroids, but more about the formation of the Solar System. "Asteroids are very primordial celestial bodies."
About the Hayabusa2 mission and MASCOT
Hayabusa2 is a Japanese space agency (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; JAXA) mission to the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu. The German-French lander MASCOT on board Hayabusa2 was developed by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and built in close cooperation with the French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales). DLR, the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale and the Technical University of Braunschweig have contributed the scientific experiments on board MASCOT. The MASCOT lander and its experiments are operated and controlled by DLR with support from CNES and in constant interaction with the Hayabusa2 team.
The DLR Institute of Space Systems in Bremen was responsible for developing and testing the lander together with CNES. The DLR Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems in Braunschweig was responsible for the stable structure of the lander. The DLR Robotics and Mechatronics Center in Oberpfaffenhofen developed the swing arm that allows MASCOT to hop on the asteroid. Das DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin contributed the MASCAM camera and the MARA radiometer. The asteroid lander is monitored and operated from the MASCOT Control Center in the Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC) at the DLR site in Cologne.
Mascot wurde von etwa 51 m über die lyuguw getrennt! Vor der Trennung des Maskottchen-Bildes, die Szenerie von etwa 130 m über, als ich mich der lyuguw mit mir näherte! Mascot, viel Glück! Viel Glück 🇩🇪 Bonne Chance 🇫🇷
Quelle: ESA
+++
Hello #Earth, hello @haya2kun! I promised to send you some pictures of #Ryugu so here’s a shot I took during my descent. Can you spot my shadow? #AsteroidLanding
Quelle: JAXA
+++
Update: 21.00 MESZ
.
Navigation Images from the MASCOT deployment operation (Real time delivery)
Real time delivery of the navigation image. The following list might not show fully processed images due to issues on data transfer and/or processing.
Received time: UTC 2018-10-03 01:46
Received time: UTC 2018-10-03 02:12
Received time: UTC 2018-10-03 03:12
Received time: UTC 2018-10-03 13:02
Received time: UTC 2018-10-03 18:02
Quelle: JAXA
---
Update: 6.10.2018
.
These Photos of Asteroid Ryugu from the Successful MASCOT Landing Are Amazing
Another photograph snapped during MASCOT's landing on Ryugu.
Credit: DLR/CNES
Earlier this week, a spacecraft plopped a small lander on a diamond-shaped space rock far, far away — and before that robot ended a marathon 17-hour work session, it sent back some incredible images of its descent.
The lander, called MASCOT, is part of an international mission to explore a primitive asteroid called Ryugu and is the third robot to venture onto the asteroid's surface. And unsurprisingly, the view from a shoebox-size lander being dropped onto a space rock is pretty wild.
I
Earlier this week, a spacecraft plopped a small lander on a diamond-shaped space rock far, far away — and before that robot ended a marathon 17-hour work session, it sent back some incredible images of its descent.
The lander, called MASCOT, is part of an international mission to explore a primitive asteroid called Ryugu and is the third robot to venture onto the asteroid's surface. And unsurprisingly, the view from a shoebox-size lander being dropped onto a space rock is pretty wild.
In a tweet, the team behind the lander explained that the photograph includes a faint beam of light reflected off MASCOT itself
MASCOT was a joint project of the German and French space agencies and was delivered to the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2, which also captured images of the landing. Stitched together into a GIF, they show the lander entering from the upper left corner of the frame, then catching the light in the final image.
n a tweet, the team behind the lander explained that the photograph includes a faint beam of light reflected off MASCOT itself.
MASCOT was designed to gather data for 16 hours, or about two of Ryugu's days. Scientists working on the mission were able to coax an extra hour of work out of the robot after realizing that its battery had enough juice to keep going.
Before the power supply ran out, MASCOT beamed all the data gathered by its four instruments back up to the main Hayabusa2 spacecraft, so the information could be sent home to Earth. Scientists hope the data will help them understand what Ryugu is made of and how the solar system formed.
Quelle: SC
+++
MASCOT lander sends back otherworldly views of asteroid Ryugu’s rugged terrain
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 probe and the German-French MASCOT lander have teamed up to send back amazing views of an asteroid that’s more than 180 million miles from Earth, including a snapshot of the lander falling toward the asteroid and an on-the-ground view of its rocky terrain.
Scientists shared the images today at the International Astronautical Congress in Germany, during a recap of MASCOT’s successful 17-hour survey of the asteroid Ryugu. Hayabusa 2, which has been hovering above the half-mile-wide asteroid for weeks, dropped the foot-wide, boxy lander onto the surface on Wednesday.
MASCOT stands for “Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout.” The robotic scout conducted a scientific sweep with its four instruments — a camera, a radiometer, a magnetometer and an infrared spectrometer — and used its robotic swing arm as necessary to hop around the surface. It operated for three asteroid days and two asteroid nights, with each full day-night cycle lasting about seven hours and 36 minutes.
“With MASCOT, it has been possible to, for the first time, explore the surface of an asteroid directly on site so extensively,” Hansjörg Dittus, executive board member for space research and technology at Germany’s DLR space agency, said in a news release.
MASCOT uploaded a treasure trove of imagery and data to Hayabusa 2 for storage before its batteries ran out, and the Japanese probe has been relaying the pictures and readings back to Earth.
“The evaluation of the valuable data has just begun,” said MASCOT project manager Tra-Mi Ho, a researcher at the DLR Institute of Space Systems. “We will learn a lot about the past of the solar system and the importance of near-Earth asteroids like Ryugu.”
MASCOT’s mission came two weeks after Hayabusa 2 deployed two mini-rovers to Ryugu’s surface for an initial round of reconnaissance. In the coming months, Hayabusa 2 will descend to the asteroid and blast bits of rock from the surface for collection. It also has another mini-rover to release.
The probe is scheduled to start the return journey to Earth next year and drop off its samples during a flyby in late 2020.
Here’s a gallery of images from MASCOT and Hayabusa 2:
The boxy MASCOT lander can be seen toward the upper edge of this image captured by the Hayabusa 2 probe just after MASCOT’s release. The rugged terrain of asteroid Ryugu provides a backdrop. (Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST)
Get out your red-blue glasses to see a 3-D anaglyph version of Hayabusa 2’s view of Ryugu and MASCOT’s descent. (Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu, AIST / Additional processing by Wolfgang Muehle)