Japan's asteroid probe "Hayabusa2" succeeded in a flyby after approaching an asteroid.
According to Japanese media including the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 6th, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the previous day that Hayabusa2 conducted a flyby of the asteroid "Torifune," about 100 million km from Earth. A flyby is a method in which a probe approaches closely to observe a celestial body and then passes by without landing or entering orbit.
According to JAXA, Hayabusa2 flew past Torifune at a relative speed of about 18,000 km per hour and approached to about 800 meters from the asteroid. During this process, the probe captured Torifune with its onboard camera and collected data using multiple sensors. It also reportedly determined its trajectory autonomously and controlled its flight.
This kind of precise approach technology can be used to respond to asteroids that could collide with Earth. When a hazardous asteroid is discovered, the ability to approach the target accurately is necessary to alter its trajectory by crashing a probe into it.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that until now only the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had possessed such technology. In 2022, NASA succeeded in an experiment to change an asteroid's trajectory by crashing the "DART" probe into it.
Hayabusa2 was launched in 2014 and in 2020 successfully sent to Earth samples collected from the asteroid "Ryugu." It aims to arrive at the asteroid "1988 KY26" in July 2031.