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The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Bureau (JAXA) has talked a lot well-nigh how the Hayabusa2 mission aims to render a sample of the asteroid Ryugu to Earth. That might be the "principal event," but Hayabusa2 is still putting on a skilful opening act as information technology peppers the asteroid with robotic explorers. Afterwards deploying a pair of robots a calendar week ago, the team has now launched a tertiary one called MASCOT.

The previous robotic explorers, MINERVA-II1A and MINERVA-II1B, landed on the surface at the cease of September. These drum-shaped devices are not technically "rovers" as we call back of them, but they take a similar mission. Each unit is ringed with temperature sensors and cameras to help map the surface of Ryugu. However, the gravity of this one-half-mile asteroid is too low for a wheeled rover to work — information technology would just float away. And so, the MINERVA robots have internal motors that allow them hop beyond the surface.

MASCOT has a similar method of locomotion, just it's not round. The boxy MASCOT robot had to employ its hopping motors shortly after landing because the team determined it was sitting at a bad bending. There was no time to waste with MASCOT. Different the MINERVA landers, this robot doesn't have solar panels. Information technology runs entirely from an internal battery that lasts near 16 hours.

The German space agency (DLR) built MASCOT for the Hayabusa2 mission. It includes a suite of cameras, temperature sensors, and instruments to analyze the geology of Ryugu. The team posted a picture (below) of the robot making its descent to the surface in the early hours of October 3rd. As of this posting, MASCOT has several more than hours of juice to complete its mission.

Next up for Hayabusa2, it volition deploy some other wave of MINERVA robots on the surface of the asteroid. These will be the last landers earlier the principal issue starts. Early side by side twelvemonth, JAXA will get-go the sample collection stage of the mission in iii parts. The first two consist of floating down to the surface, and firing solid metal slugs into the regolith. The goal is to launch dust toward the probe for collection. The third requires Hayabusa2 to access textile that'south currently buried below the surface. Information technology volition use a small explosive projectile to make a crater earlier diving in to scoop up material. In full, JAXA hopes to send 100 milligrams of grit back to Earth.

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