The Science Museum in London is currently displaying a grain from asteroid #Ryugu ! Their new blog looks at how asteroids get their initial designation numbers, and describes how you can name asteroid 2001 CC21 in the Hayabusa2 Extended Mission campaign before we flyby in 2026! 🖊

Exactly 5 years ago today, on February 22, 2019 at 07:29:10 JST (onboard time), Hayabusa2 made the first touchdown on asteroid Ryugu during a tense operation! The video was captured by CAM-H and lasted 5 minutes 40 seconds, starting 59s before the final descent (it's sped up 5x)

The Hayabusa2 spacecraft will flyby asteroid 2001 CC21 in July 2026 🛰️🪨! Can you help us choose a name for this asteroid? You have until May 9, 2024 for suggestions, so there's plenty of time to think! More information on the Hayabusa# website 🔗:
hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/topics/2023…

The final talk in the online series for sample return missions will look at future studies, including plans for the Hayabusa2 & OSIRIS-REx samples, and the up-coming Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. Talk will be held on Tuesday (11/28) 21:30 JST. Register for free below!

Hayabusa2 Project Manager Tsuda Yuichi, and ISAS Deputy DG Fujimoto Masaki will join the online panel to discuss sample return missions next Tuesday (11/14) at 9:30pm JST! Come and hear about Hayabusa2 and #OSIRISREx sample collection and analysis!
Register for free below:

The new space seminar series organised by JAXA Space Education & the London Science Museum on Sample Return Missions and Analysis begins tonight with a look at the Apollo Moon Samples! Talk begins at 9:30pm JST Register (for free) below.

NASA's #OSIRISREx spacecraft returning to Earth! (Video at 8x speed)

The NASA OSIRIS-REx mission approaching the Earth, shown in this photograph as the line in the upper right corner!

Welcome back! #OSIRISREx #ITelescopeT31
2023/09/24.12:20-12:30 UTC