Japan will continue to explore

The Japan Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch a spacecraft to a meteorite next year to sample soil and rock.

Illustration of Hayabusa ship scene landing on a meteorite
Itokawa in 2005 to take material samples. (Photo: JAXA)

JAXA's website reports that it will launch a spacecraft called Hayabusa 2 to the meteorite 1999 JU3 in 2014. Hayabusa 2's design will be completed this spring. JAXA has fabricated its body and solar panels.

JAXA launched a Hayabusa spacecraft into the universe to sample meteorite material. Hayabusa arrived at an asteroid named Itokawa - 500m long - in 2005. After taking photos of meteorites from every angle, it landed on the object twice. The ship returned to Earth on June 13, 2010 after a 7-year journey of up to 6 billion km. JAXA spent $ 200 million on the Hayabusa ship building project. The aim of the project is to understand the origin and evolution of the solar system.

Like the previous version, Hayabusa 2 will sample the meteorite material to bring it back to Earth. However, JAXA experts also wanted to create a collision to cut a hole in the meteorite and take the material beneath the surface.

Hayabusa 2's flight will take 4 years, meaning it will arrive in the 1999 JU3 meteorite in 2018. The spacecraft will stay on a meteorite for a year and a half before returning in 2019.