Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Artist impression of Hayabusa2 leaving the Earth as the capsule heads to its landing spot in Australia.

Japan’s en route Hayabusa2 re-entry capsule is headed for a December 6 parachute landing in the Woomera Prohibited Area in Australia.

Topped off with asteroid samples, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) capsule has been given landing clearance from the Australian Government – an Authorization of Return of Overseas-Launched Space Object, or AROLSO for short.

Ion engine propulsion unit on Hayabusa2, shown in pre-launch photo.
Credit: JAXA

Asteroid specimens

Hayabusa2 has been spaceborne since its launch from Japan in December 2014 and is now chugging its way back to Earth via ion engine propulsion.

The capsule carries samples from a 4.5 billion year old asteroid. The space rock, asteroid Ryugu, was thoroughly investigated by the Japanese probe, dropping off mini-robots and gathering specimens of the object.

The sample collection is the first ever sub-surface asteroid specimens to be returned to Earth.

Hayabusa2 team salutes departure of spacecraft from asteroid Ryugu in November 2019.
Credit: JAXA

Japan/Australia partnership

Karen Andrews, Australia’s Minister for Industry, Science and Technology formally approved the return of JAXA’s Hayabusa2.

“I am delighted to have given the tick of approval for the Hayabusa2 to land at the Woomera Prohibited Area and am thrilled JAXA has chosen to partner with us on the capsule’s re-entry,” Minister Andrews said in a statement.

Candidate targets for extended mission.
Credit: Auburn University/JAXA

Extended mission?

After dropping off its capsule, the main body of Hayabusa2 will return to deep space.

As about half of the fuel (xenon) for the ion engine is expected to remain at this time, there is the potential to continue on to a new, extended mission.

Two candidate objects are on the target list: 2001 AV43 and 1998 KY26. Both of the space rocks are very small with diameters of a few tens of meters and are referred to as “fast rotators” due to their extremely rapid rotation period of just 10 minutes. An object with these characteristics has never been visited by spacecraft before.

The arrival of Hayabusa2 at 2001 AV43 is scheduled for November 2029, and the arrival at 1998 KY26 is slated for July 2031.

According to Hayabusa2 controllers: “This mission and the budget must be approved in order to actually proceed with the extended mission. After safely delivering the capsule to Earth, we look forward to moving onwards to new challenges!”