A Souvenir From Space: Japanese Probe Hayabusa2 Launches Asteroid Lander ‘MASCOT’ On Ryugu’s Surface

The Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 has successfully launched its probe, mobile asteroid surface scout (MASCOT) on the asteroid Ryugu, India Today has reported. MASCOT is a French and German probe which was on board Hayabusa2.

“It is hugely significant to take data from the surface of an asteroid, we have high expectations for the scientific data,” Hayabusa2 mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa said after the launch.

The probe Mascot weighs 10 kg and is box-shaped. It is equipped with sensors, which allows it to take images at multiple wavelengths, investigate minerals with a microscope, gauge surface temperatures and measure magnetic fields. It will be a largely immobile probe. The MASCOT has a maximum battery life of 16 hours and it will transmit all its data to Hayabusa2 probe before going off.

Later this month, Hayabusa will launch an impactor directed at the asteroid which will collect a sample from the asteroid. The fresh material from the asteroid will help in addressing questions about the origin of life and the universe.