Hayabusa 2 Asteroid Explorer set for Launch on Monday
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 Asteroid Exploration Mission is set for launch atop an H-IIA rocket on Monday at 4:22:43 UTC to set sail on a six-year mission to visit asteroid 1999 JU3 and return to Earth to bring back surface samples, allowing scientists to look deep into the past and learn more about the formation of the Solar System. Being delivered to heliocentric orbit, the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will be joined by three secondary payloads including a small asteroid explorer and a piece of deep-space art.
Hayabusa 2 builds on the success of the first Hayabusa mission that launched back in 2003 and linked up with asteroid Itokawa in 2005 to conduct a landing on its surface and attempt to send a small lander to the asteroid. Suffering through some tense moments, Hayabusa 1 delivered the lander to an incorrect path that led to it missing the asteroid and the spacecraft itself did not initiate its sampling system during both of its landing attempts. With a propellant leak and a partially failed ion thruster system, Hayabusa made its way back to Earth, returning in 2010 and bringing with it about 1,500 particles from the surface of Itokawa.
Hayabusa 2 is set for a three and a half-year journey to Asteroid 1999 JU3 where it is expected to stay for 18 months, performing remote sensing operations using two spectrometers and a telescopic camera, and attempting to land on the asteroid three times to gather surface samples for return to Earth. In addition, the spacecraft is carrying the MASCOT lander and three MINERVA II “asteroid hoppers” that will be dispatched to the surface for a detailed in-situ study, delivering a never-before-seen data set.
Also traveling with Hayabusa is an explosive impactor that will create a four-meter crater on the asteroid to expose fresh material for sampling. Hayabusa 2 is expected to make its return to Earth
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http://www.spaceflight101.com/hayabusa-2-mission-updates.html
