The Japanese are preparing to launch the second asteroid expedition
"Hayabusa-2" and a projectile-impactor (Figure).
This is the second attempt of the Japanese to deliver asteroid substances to the earth for their direct study. The first was undertaken in 2003. Then the Itokawa earth group asteroid became the object of study. The Hayabus-1 device was sent to it, which produced asteroid dust collection. The space operation was supposed to end in 2007, but due to technical problems that had arisen, the capsule with the alien substance could only be returned in the middle of 2010.
The goal of the current expedition is a near-earth asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3. It belongs to the Apollo group and has a shape close to spherical. The asteroid was discovered in 1999, but has no own name yet.
According to the researchers, "This carbon-rich small celestial body, belonging to the dark spectral class C, can contain in its rocky rocks both water and virgin organic matter belonging to the initial period of the solar system." This circumstance, according to planetologists, "could shed light on the evolution in the early stages of our solar system more than 4,5 billion years ago."
The diameter of the spherical block is almost a kilometer (about 0,92 km), which is twice the size of the previous object of study - the Itokawa asteroid.
“1999 JU3 moves in an elongated elliptical orbit at an average speed of approximately 27 km / s, crossing the orbits of the Earth and Mars. Its orbital period around the Sun is about 474 days, the period of its own rotation is 7, 63 hours. The inclination angle of its orbital plane to the ecliptic is more than 5,88 degrees, ”reports JAXA.
Experts have calculated that the most advantageous window for launching Hayabusa-2 falls on the end of 2014. If the launch for any reason fails, then the next favorable opportunity presents itself only in 10 years - in 2024.
According to the developers, the new spacecraft is in many ways similar to its predecessor, the Hayabus-1, but there are also differences in equipping it with a kind of gun, which will help to get samples of asteroid soil, and not only from the surface, but also deeper layers of this heavenly body. "
The agency said that when approaching a space object from the spacecraft "from a distance of 100 meters, an asteroid will be released at a speed of 2km / s metal projectile impactor, which will produce a small explosion on the surface of a celestial body." After that, soil samples (surface and surface) will be collected using a sliding device and placed in a special container, which must then be delivered to Earth by the device.
Probably, this will be the ground pick-up.
- www.nkj.ru
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