Hayabusa 2 Rovers Send New Images from Asteroid Ryugu Surface...AMAZING!!

I see diamonds golds in these pics...

Are those rocks or is that one giant alien made of rocks?

originally posted by: IlluminatiTechnician
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Yay. More rocks. Interesting. I just don't get the whole point of this. Every new discovery, is just a ball of rocks. Go to Mars...rocks, go to the moon...what do they collect? More rocks. We have those here. Even if they find any small organisms or anything, it never amounts to anything more than discussion of possible life...but when all the smoke has cleared...we still have just more rocks.

These rocks are telling us about the Solar System's history, chemical composition, and giving clues as to how the Earth and other objects formed. Besides, landing a rover on an asteroid and taking pictures is really cool.

Humans love to research and discover, that's just in our genes.

For an idea of the size of this asteroid, here it is superimposed over NY:



www.flickr.com...

Wow those are some amazing pictures. So clear as well. I would love to get a rover on the moon with such amazing clarity and let it roam around for a while. I believe the Chinese did it didn't they?

There is so much to learn from space. When we humans work together, we can achieve anything.

Thanks OP, nice break from the circus, as well as interesting images.
a reply to: SR1TX

Likewise.

Wait, so you mean Mars images are actually the middle of the Columbia basin? Gonna visit, find my own "rocks" to share.

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
Hayabusa 2 rovers send new images from Ryugu surface
www.bbc.com...

The photos reveal new details of the surface of the space rock, which is known as Ryugu.

On 21 September, the rovers were released on to the surface by the "mothership", Hayabusa 2.

Hayabusa 2 reached Ryugu in June after a three-and-a-half-year journey.

The pictures show in clear relief the rugged, boulder-strewn landscape of this striking Solar System body.

The robots, known as Rover 1A and Rover 1B, are now both confirmed to be working on the surface of the space rock.

The 1kg autonomous rovers move about by hopping, using the asteroid's low gravity. Each one contains a motor-powered internal mass that rotates to generate force, propelling the robot across the surface.

Some more pictures from the source:

Also there appears to be a twitter video released as well stating

Rover 1B also sent back the first video footage from the surface of an asteroid.

although it won't play on this news source....

...so, after going through some twitter feeds, here is the .gif of the captures...plus other pictures of the surface HAYABUSA2 TWITTER FEED

And for those who want a shortcut video showing many images including the short movie check this YT clip:

Another cool picture captured:

As Hayabusa2 descended towards Ryugu to deploy the MINERVA-II1 rovers, the ONC-T camera snapped the highest resolution image yet of the asteroid surface!

www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp...

Anyways I think this is really cool and I am looking forward to more images to see what it looks like on the surface of an asteroid

Makes you realise what a disaster shooting one out the sky with a nuke would be... A shower of dirty shrapnel.

originally posted by: wildespace

originally posted by: IlluminatiTechnician
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Yay. More rocks. Interesting. I just don't get the whole point of this. Every new discovery, is just a ball of rocks. Go to Mars...rocks, go to the moon...what do they collect? More rocks. We have those here. Even if they find any small organisms or anything, it never amounts to anything more than discussion of possible life...but when all the smoke has cleared...we still have just more rocks.

These rocks are telling us about the Solar System's history, chemical composition, and giving clues as to how the Earth and other objects formed. Besides, landing a rover on an asteroid and taking pictures is really cool.

Humans love to research and discover, that's just in our genes.

I agree with you on this. It is not just to see what it looks like on an asteroid's surface, but the rocks are of alien origin,,,where did they originate from and what are they made of? Could there be some legendary rare metals on these rocks that could be harvested to make advanced technology? Or can they approve that asteroids are also contain Iron Ferrite 9through favorable drilling scenarios) as stated in Armageddon Movie...lol...either way, any new alien surface looks awesome!

Meanwhile, in the Mission Control asteroid-monitoring hub....“Based on the thermographic imaging,” Rock-hound said, “Segment 201, Lateral Grid Six, site 12J14 that’s one prime landing site. Site 12G17’s another.”

Another lander is down, called MASCOT. It took this cool picture while descending:



The rover's shadow is visible in top right corner.
Source: www.facebook.com...

It's notable how the surface of the asteroid is covered with so much rubble, with practically no smooth areas.

Couple of new angles on that big rock that looks sedimentary. I've decided that it is definitely layered, but probably not sedimentary. You gotta figure that the rocks the asteroid accumulates fall into it in layers sometimes. So it's probably not a sedimentary rock blown out of Mars or some other larger body that ended up here.




Still some interesting space trash in these images. Like that blocky formation at 2 o'clock in the lower image.

originally posted by: Masisoar

... looking for things that look like …. garden hoes.

Yeah, we need to find those Garden Gnomes companions

Jaxa will attempt to collect a sample from Ryugu on the 22nd February , all being well the sample will be returned in 2020.

Jaxa officials had to delay the touchdown last October, after they found the asteroid's surface was more rugged than expected.

During sample collection, the spacecraft will approach the 1km-wide asteroid with an instrument called the sampler horn. On touchdown, a 5g projectile made of the metal tantalum is fired into the rocky surface at 300m/s.

The particles kicked up by the impact will be caught by a specially-designed section of the sampler horn.

Hayabusa 2 will begin descending to the surface on 21 February (local time) and should touch down around 08:00 on the 22nd.
www.bbc.co.uk...

Timelapse of Hayabusa-2 descending and collecting a sample from the asteroid:


www.youtube.com...

National Research and Development Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) executed the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 operation to touch down the surface of the target asteroid Ryugu for sample retrieval. Data analysis from Hayabusa2 confirms that the sequence of operation proceeded, including shooting a projectile into the asteroid to collect its sample material. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft is in nominal state. This marks the Hayabusa2 successful touchdown on Ryugu.

originally posted by: wildespace
Timelapse of Hayabusa-2 descending and collecting a sample from the asteroid:

www.youtube.com...

Going by that video and how much debris was kicked up by the sample-taking process, it appears to me that Ryugu is a relatively loose amalgamation of material, at least at the surface.

originally posted by: Box of Rain

originally posted by: wildespace
Timelapse of Hayabusa-2 descending and collecting a sample from the asteroid:

www.youtube.com...

Going by that video and how much debris was kicked up by the sample-taking process, it appears to me that Ryugu is a relatively loose amalgamation of material, at least at the surface.

Yes, it's a so-called rubble pile, like most asteroids are.

The asteroid's diamond shape is due to the lose material slumping towards equator due to centrifugal force.