Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                              2018 September 24
                                      [2]
                       Rover 1A Hops on Asteroid Ryugu
    Image Credit & Copyright: ISAS [3] , JAXA [4] , Hayabusa2 Mission [5]

Explanation: Two small robots have begun hopping around the surface of
asteroid Ryugu. The rovers, each the size of a small frying pan [6] , move
around the low gravity of kilometer-sized 162173 Ryugu [7]  by hopping,
staying aloft for about 15 minutes and typically landing again several meters
away. On Saturday, Rover 1A returned an early picture [8]  of its new home
world [9] , on the left, during one of its first hops. On Friday, lander
MINERVA-II-1 [10]  detached from its mothership Hayabusa2 [11] , dropped
Rovers 1A and 1B, and then landed [12]  on Ryugu. Studying Ryugu [13]  could
tell humanity [14] not only about Ryugu's surface and interior, but about what
materials were available in the early Solar System [15]  for the development
of life [16] . Two more hopping rovers are planned [17]  for release, and
Hayabusa2<a/> itself is scheduled to collect a surface sample from Ryugu [19]
and return it to Earth [20]  for detailed analysis before 2021.

                     Tomorrow's picture: autumn skylights

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [32] (MTU [33] ) & Jerry Bonnell [34]
                                  (UMCP [35] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [36] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [37]
              A service of: ASD [38]  at NASA [39]  / GSFC [40]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [41]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1809/Ryugu01_Rover1aHayabusa2_960.jpg
  [3] http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/
  [4] http://global.jaxa.jp/about/index.html
  [5] http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/
  [6] ap130401.html
  [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/162173_Ryugu
  [8] http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/topics/201809...
  [9] ap180822.html
  [10]
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/mi...
  [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa2
  [12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkvEgvzAw0o
  [13] http://global.jaxa.jp/article/2014/interview/...
  [14] https://twitter.com/haya2e_jaxa
  [15] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our...
  [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis
  [17] http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/mission_s...
  [18]
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/se...
Hayabusa2.html
  [19] ap180625.html
  [20] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/ov...
  [21] ap180923.html
  [22] archivepix.html
  [23] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [24] lib/aptree.html
  [25] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [26] calendar/allyears.html
  [27] /apod.rss
  [28] lib/edlinks.html
  [29] lib/about_apod.html
  [30] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [31] ap180925.html
  [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [33] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [34] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [35] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [36] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [37] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [38] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [40] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [41] http://www.mtu.edu/

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