This weekend featured two significant asteroid encounters: Japan's Hayabusa2 successfully flew by the peanut-shaped asteroid Torifune, while China's Tianwen-2 arrived at its target for a future sample return mission. These events highlight the ongoing capabilities of extended deep-space missions from both nations.
Background
Hayabusa2 previously returned samples from asteroid Ryugu, while Tianwen-2 is tasked with collecting samples from a main-belt asteroid and a comet nucleus.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Jul 6, 2026 at 11:15 PM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10