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Japan’s Hayabusa2 flies within 800 meters of Torifune
JAXA said the spacecraft, controlled from land about 100 million km away, performed as expected during the fly-by and used the mission to demonstrate technology to change an asteroid’s orbit.
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft completed a close fly-by of the asteroid Torifune, passing within 800 metres (0.5 miles), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said on July 5, according to SCMP Economy. The event is framed by JAXA as a step forward for asteroid defence capabilities tied to Japan’s growing space technology.
JAXA said the probe performed as expected and responded to all commands from mission control on Earth, roughly 100 million km away during the operation, SCMP Economy reported. The outlet also cited mission lead Yuya Mimasa describing the challenge as comparable to hitting a 1-yen coin in Hokkaido from Okinawa.
SCMP Economy reported that JAXA officials said the mission demonstrated technology intended to alter the orbit of an asteroid that could be heading toward Earth. Masaki Fujimoto, director of the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronomical Science, said the expedition showed the country can change an asteroid’s trajectory.