After nearly four years of traveling through space, the Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully rendezvoused with the Ryugu asteroid, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed Wednesday. Let the next stage of this historic sampling-and-return mission begin!
Earlier today, mission controllers at JAXA triggered Hayabusa2’s chemical propulsion thrusters, bringing the spacecraft into orbit around Ryugu, an asteroid that’s just shy of one kilometer (0.6 miles) wide. Confirmation of the rendezvous was made at 9:35 am Japan Standard Time (JST). JAXA says Hayabusa2’s thrusters worked normally, and that the spacecraft is maintaining a constant distance from Ryugu.
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