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Today, Japan launched 2 small rovers at an asteroid from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The original mission launched in 2014, and took some stunning fly-by shots of the Earth in 2015 on its way out. The 2 diminutive drones measure 18cm by 7cm, weigh 1.1kg each, and feature small motors to "hop" across the surface. Japan showed their enthusiasm in a tweet featuring the spacecraft's shadow on the asteroid's surface. The main craft will throw two more rovers at the asteroid next year.
Check out a video of the mission here.
There are four cameras on Rover-1A and three cameras on Rover-1B. We are planning to use the cameras on each rover to create a stereo image of the surface of Ryugu. Some of the projections from the rover edge that looks like thorns are temperature sensors to measure the surface temperature of Ryugu. Additional instruments on the rovers include optical sensors, an accelerometer and a gyroscope.
Check out a video of the mission here.
There are four cameras on Rover-1A and three cameras on Rover-1B. We are planning to use the cameras on each rover to create a stereo image of the surface of Ryugu. Some of the projections from the rover edge that looks like thorns are temperature sensors to measure the surface temperature of Ryugu. Additional instruments on the rovers include optical sensors, an accelerometer and a gyroscope.
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