On July 5, 2026, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 spacecraft achieved a groundbreaking milestone by completing its first asteroid encounter during its extended mission. The spacecraft passed near a fascinating two-lobed asteroid close to Earth, known as Torifune. It successfully captured and transmitted stunning close-up visual and thermal images.
This image of the near-Earth asteroid Tryphne was taken on July 5, 2026, with the ONC-T instrument aboard JAXA’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Chiba Institute of Technology / Tokyo University of Science / AIST / Paris Observatory / IAC.
Launched in 2014, JAXA’s Hayabusa2 was initially designed to explore the carbon-rich near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, which holds primordial material from the solar system’s formation. Upon arrival in 2018, the spacecraft spent over a year mapping Ryugu and deployed a small “hopping” lander along with the German-made MASCOT lander for sample collection.
In April 2019, Hayabusa2 initiated a daring experiment by firing a copper projectile into Ryugu, creating an artificial crater. Researchers aimed to gather samples shielded from billions of years of space weathering.
The spacecraft later descended to collect freshly excavated material, which, when analyzed after the return capsule landed in Australia in 2020, revealed water-bearing minerals, organic molecules, and compounds that provide insights into the early solar system’s chemical makeup, dating back 4.6 billion years.
In a remarkable twist, unlike many missions that conclude after returning their samples, Hayabusa2 continued its journey.
After releasing its sample capsule, the spacecraft resumed its engines for a long-term mission to visit the near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26 in 2031.
On its path, Hayabusa2 performed a high-speed flyby of the small asteroid Tryphne, also referred to as 2001 CC21, scheduled for 2026.
This thermal image of the asteroid Tryphne was captured on July 5, 2026, by the TIR instrument aboard JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft. Image credit: JAXA / Maebashi Institute of Technology / Chiba Institute of Technology / University of Aizu / Hokkaido University of Education / National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
The flyby occurred at 6:30 PM on July 5, Japan time, with Hayabusa2 approaching the asteroid at an impressive speed of approximately 5 kilometers per second.
The spacecraft utilized its Optical Navigation Camera (ONC-T) to capture visible-light images, revealing Torifune as an asteroid with dual elongated lobes reminiscent of a snowman.
“Observations with NIRS3 (near-infrared spectrometer), TIR (thermal infrared imager), and LIDAR (light detection and ranging) instruments were conducted an hour before the closest approach,” mission members reported.
“Data collection continued right up until the nearest point of approach, but no observations were made post-encounter,” they added.
“Currently, only a portion of the data collected by scientific instruments has been transmitted to Earth. The remaining data will be shared during upcoming operations.”
Source: www.sci.news
