Japanese spacecraft approaches Earth to drop asteroid samples

Context: Japanese space agency Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on its intended trajectory as it approaches Earth to deliver a capsule containing samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

• The spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) away, a year ago.
• The capsule is to be released 2,20,000 kilometers (1,36,700 miles) away in space and land in a remote, sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia.

Hayabusa2

• It touched down twice on Ryugu, despite its extremely rocky surface, and successfully collected data and samples during the 1½ years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.
• For Hayabusa2, it’s not the end of the mission it started in 2014.
• After dropping the capsule, it will return to space and head to another distant small asteroid called 1998KY26 on a journey slated to take 10 years one way.

Significance: Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/japanese-spacecraft-approaches-earth-to-drop-asteroid-samples/article33251142.ece?homepage=true