Hayabusa-2’s second approach to artificial crater scheduled
Based on images obtained during the aborted early May close-in approach to the asteroid Ryugu, the Hayabusa-2 science team was able to get better imagery of the location of their man-made impact site,, and this has allowed them to both reschedule to May 28-30 the next close approach, as well as more accurately aim the spacecraft at that artificial crater.
The image on the right shows the artificial crater as the dark area inside the box labeled C01, their new target site. The S01 box was the target location for the mid-May aborted approach.
The goal of these close-in approaches is to drop a reflective target at the site, giving them a very precise reference point for the touch-and-go sample grab to follow. They were unable to make the drop on the aborted close-in approach, and will attempt it again in this week’s second attempt.
The second link above provides a detailed minute-by-minute outline of this week’s approach. As before, you can watch it happen with the live download of navigation images every thirty minutes or so. A link to that real-time image delivery will be found here.
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Based on images obtained during the aborted early May close-in approach to the asteroid Ryugu, the Hayabusa-2 science team was able to get better imagery of the location of their man-made impact site,, and this has allowed them to both reschedule to May 28-30 the next close approach, as well as more accurately aim the spacecraft at that artificial crater.
The image on the right shows the artificial crater as the dark area inside the box labeled C01, their new target site. The S01 box was the target location for the mid-May aborted approach.
The goal of these close-in approaches is to drop a reflective target at the site, giving them a very precise reference point for the touch-and-go sample grab to follow. They were unable to make the drop on the aborted close-in approach, and will attempt it again in this week’s second attempt.
The second link above provides a detailed minute-by-minute outline of this week’s approach. As before, you can watch it happen with the live download of navigation images every thirty minutes or so. A link to that real-time image delivery will be found here.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
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