Japan’s asteroid mission Hayabusa2 has become the first to land moving rovers on the surface of an asteroid.
On 22 September, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) tweeted that it had confirmed the mission’s twin rovers, called MINERVA-II 1A and 1B, had landed safely on the space rock Ryugu, and were moving on the surface.
The Hayabusa2 mothership deployed the small probes late last week as it dropped to just 55 metres above the surface, later pulling up to a higher orbit.
Image: Hayabusa2’s MINERVA-II rover 1A captured this image during a hop on the asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXA
