This might look like just a normal space video that you have seen some other rovers have sent before, but what you are watching could be what sheds light on the secrets of the origin of the universe. We are talking about the visuals sent back to earth by two Japanese robots from the surface of a moving asteroid. This was done as part of an unprecedented mission to study the inception of the solar system.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) released the 15-frame clip along with new photographs days after the unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 deployed the rovers on to the asteroid’s surface after a three-and-a-half year journey. It is the worlds world’s first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface, according to Jaxa. The mission was launched in December 2014 and will return to Earth with its samples in 2020, according to the space agency.
Watch the video here:
Rover-1B succeeded in shooting a movie on Ryugu’s surface! The movie has 15 frames captured on September 23, 2018 from 10:34 – 11:48 JST. Enjoy ‘standing’ on the surface of this asteroid! [6/6] pic.twitter.com/57avmjvdVa
— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) September 27, 2018
The video shows a mixture of boulders and relatively smooth patches on the surface of Ryugu asteroid, framed by a black sky. Jaxa also posted the highest resolution photographs to date of Ryugu’s surface, taken with Hayabusa2’s onboard camera as it approached the asteroid in preparation to release the rovers.
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