{"id":191181,"date":"2026-07-07T15:52:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=191181"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:52:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:22:31","slug":"another-success-for-hayabusa-2-as-it-completes-a-flyby-of-asteroid-torifune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=191181","title":{"rendered":"Another Success for Hayabusa 2 as it Completes a Flyby of Asteroid Torifune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n        Hayabusa 2&#8217;s primary mission is well in the past, now. <a href=\"https:\/\/global.jaxa.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JAXA&#8217;s<\/a> asteroid sampling spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Ryugu back in June 2018. It studied the asteroid for 1.5 years and gathered a sample which was returned to Earth in December 2020. <\/p>\n<p>After that successful endeavour, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hayabusa2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hayabusa 2<\/a> was sent on its way to visit other targets, though another sample-return is not possible. It&#8217;s on its way to visit a tiny asteroid called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1998_KY26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1998 KY<sub>26<\/sub><\/a>, a near-Earth object (NEO) only about 11 meters in diameter. But on its way, it also flew past another asteroid named <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/98943_Torifune\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Torifune<\/a> (98943 Torifune).  <\/p>\n<p>Ground-based observations showed that Torifune is a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) measuring about 450 meters in diameter. It&#8217;s an S-type asteroid, meaning its a stony-type or siliceous-type. These are high-density objects that make up about 17% of the asteroid population, making them the second most common type after carbonaceous C-type asteroids. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/article_images\/1280px-Hayabusa2_Torifune_trajectory_inverted_20260707_194702.jpg\" class=\"image-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"These are two different top-down ways of envisioning Hayabusa 2 and asteroid Torifune. The left panel shows a view in a frame that rotates with Earth's orbit. The right panel shows a stationary frame. Image Credit: By Original by Hirabayashi et al. 2026, modified by Nrco0e - Modified from Figure 2 of https:\/\/arxiv.org\/html\/2604.08832v1, CC BY 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=189386318\" src=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/article_images\/1280px-Hayabusa2_Torifune_trajectory_inverted_20260707_194702.jpg\"\/><\/a> *These are two different top-down ways of envisioning Hayabusa 2 and asteroid Torifune. The left panel shows a view in a frame that rotates with Earth&#8217;s orbit. The right panel shows a stationary frame. Image Credit: By Original by Hirabayashi et al. 2026, modified by Nrco0e &#8211; Modified from Figure 2 of https:\/\/arxiv.org\/html\/2604.08832v1, CC BY 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=189386318*<\/p>\n<p>Hayabusa 2 began looking at Torifune in June with its Optical Navigation Camera \u2013 Telescopic (ONC-T). The ONC-T directly imaged Torifune on June 20th for navigation purposes. <\/p>\n<p>Then on July 5th, Hayabusa 2 came to within about 800 meters of the asteroid. It used ONC-T to capture images of Torifune that revealed details about its surface. While ground-based observations showed the asteroid was elongated, hinting at its contact binary nature, only these images confirm it. In contact binaries, two separate asteroids orbited a common center of mass until they spiralled in towards each other and joined into one. Contact binary asteroids aren&#8217;t expected to be rare. <\/p>\n<p>Beginning at about one hour before closest approach, Hayabusa 2 also observed Torifune with its other instruments, the NIRS3 (Near-Infrared Spectrometer), TIR (Thermal InfraRed Imager), and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging).  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/article_images\/20260706-3-02_20260707_194358.jpg\" class=\"image-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Hayabusa 2 also imaged asteroid Torifune with its Thermal InfraRed Imager (TIR). This TIR image is from about 10 km away. Image Credit: JAXA, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Chiba Institute of Technology, The University of Aizu, Hokkaido University of Education, AIST\" src=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/article_images\/20260706-3-02_20260707_194358.jpg\"\/><\/a> *Hayabusa 2 also imaged asteroid Torifune with its Thermal InfraRed Imager (TIR). This TIR image is from about 10 km away. Image Credit: JAXA, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Chiba Institute of Technology, The University of Aizu, Hokkaido University of Education, AIST*<\/p>\n<p>Hayabusa 2 was travelling very fast during this flyby. Its relative speed was 5 km\/s (3.1 mi\/s), making navigation and image capturing challenging. It has less than half of its xenon propellant remaining, enough to power its ion thrusters to meet Torifune and 1998 KY<sub>26<\/sub>, but not enough for any extra maneuvers. <\/p>\n<p>Hayabusa 2&#8217;s next milestone will be in December 2027 when it swings past Earth. Then in June 2028, it will swing by Earth again. That will set it up for its rendezvous with 1998 KY<sub>26<\/sub> in July 2031. <\/p>\n<p>The exact nature of 1998 KY<sub>26<\/sub> isn&#8217;t clear. Observations in optical and radar suggest that it&#8217;s a water-rich asteroid, and since it&#8217;s known to be a fast-rotator, it&#8217;s almost certainly one single chunk of rock rather than a rubble pile asteroid. It could also potentially be an <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Asteroid_spectral_types#X-group\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">X-type asteroid<\/a>, which is a catch-all term that encapsulates objects that look similar through a telescope but are composed of different materials. <\/p>\n<p>All of Hayabusa 2&#8217;s data from its flyby of Torifune has not yet reached Earth, so these are preliminary results. JAXA will release more in the near future.\n      <\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/articles\/another-success-for-hayabusa-2-as-it-completes-a-flyby-of-asteroid-torifune\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hayabusa 2&#8217;s primary mission is well in the past, now. JAXA&#8217;s asteroid sampling spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Ryugu back in June 2018. It studied the asteroid for 1.5 years and gathered a sample which was returned to Earth in December 2020. After that successful endeavour, Hayabusa 2 was sent on its way to visit other &#8230; <a title=\"Another Success for Hayabusa 2 as it Completes a Flyby of Asteroid Torifune\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=191181\" aria-label=\"Read more about Another Success for Hayabusa 2 as it Completes a Flyby of Asteroid Torifune\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":191182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260706-3-01_20260707_193904.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":190421,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=190421","url_meta":{"origin":191181,"position":0},"title":"Japan Space Probe Skims Asteroid in Test for Planetary Defense","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"July 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Japanese space probe performed a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid on Sunday, in a test mission for technology that could help protect the planet from space rocks. The fridge-sized Hayabusa2 was due to fly within 800 meters (0.5 miles) of asteroid Torifune, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) scientists said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1646982_0.jpeg.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1646982_0.jpeg.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1646982_0.jpeg.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1646982_0.jpeg.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":188331,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=188331","url_meta":{"origin":191181,"position":1},"title":"Asteroids2029 initiative to advance planetary defence awareness","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"July 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Bringing together more than 70 experts from space agencies, research institutions, educational organisations, and science communication networks, the programme aims to strengthen global understanding of asteroids and promote international cooperation on planetary defence. The initiative is centred on the close approach of asteroid Apophis on 13 April 2029, when the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shutterstock_1941848515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shutterstock_1941848515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shutterstock_1941848515.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shutterstock_1941848515.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":189003,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=189003","url_meta":{"origin":191181,"position":2},"title":"80 million trees were wiped out in seconds in Siberia after a space rock explosion more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, but scientists never found a crater |","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"July 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"An artist's impression of the Tunguska airburst over central Siberia on 30 June 1908. An explosion powerful enough to destroy millions of trees should have left behind a giant crater. Instead, when scientists finally reached the remote Siberian wilderness where the blast had occurred, they found only a forest laid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783018630_photo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783018630_photo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783018630_photo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783018630_photo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783018630_photo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":184712,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=184712","url_meta":{"origin":191181,"position":3},"title":"Study Reveals Interstellar Comet 3I\/ATLAS Could Be The Oldest Object Detected In Solar System","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists have discovered surprising details about a rare object that travelled into our solar system from another star system. By studying an interstellar comet, researchers gained new clues about the conditions that existed billions of years ago in a distant part of the galaxy, reported NASA. As interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nb9au5e_comet_625x300_23_June_26.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nb9au5e_comet_625x300_23_June_26.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nb9au5e_comet_625x300_23_June_26.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nb9au5e_comet_625x300_23_June_26.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nb9au5e_comet_625x300_23_June_26.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/nb9au5e_comet_625x300_23_June_26.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":185648,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=185648","url_meta":{"origin":191181,"position":4},"title":"Perseverance rover finds even more signs of extinct life on Mars","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"offbeat Scientists remain skeptical, plead for someone to bring the rocks home Yet another Martian rock formation has revealed what may be signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. While these findings aren't as scientist-wowing as those reported last year, they add to growing evidence that ancient Mars contained\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/251831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/251831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/251831.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/251831.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/251831.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":187292,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=187292","url_meta":{"origin":191181,"position":5},"title":"7 lakes created by meteor impacts around the world: From Lake Manicouagan to Clearwater Lakes |","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Across the planet, lakes are usually associated with glaciers, rivers, volcanic activity, or shifting tectonic landscapes. A much smaller group owes its existence to something far less common. At various points in Earth's history, large objects from space have struck the surface with enough force to excavate vast depressions, some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782713708_photo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782713708_photo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782713708_photo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782713708_photo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782713708_photo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgnRh4-NJz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=191181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/191182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=191181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=191181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=191181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}