hayabusa probe

Scientists told them, 'No, it's too dangerous,' but they did it anyway: Inside Japan's super-close asteroid flyby

By Andrew Jones Published 19 July 26

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft returned spectacular images of a near-Earth asteroid following a super-close flyby on July 5, but heated debate was needed before teams signed off on the daring attempt.

Japan's Hayabusa2 probe captures remarkable photo of a two-headed asteroid 62 million miles away

By Brett Tingley Published 6 July 26

Japan's Hayabusa2 asteroid probe got up close to asteroid Torifune on July 5 and captured stunning new images of the double-lobed space rock.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft changed how we think about asteroids. Here's how.

By Tereza Pultarova Published 20 September 23

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission taught astronomers how little they know about space rocks. They might be only a few hundreds of feet wide, but their geology appears surprisingly complex.

Space Capsule That Visited Asteroid Heads to Japan

By Tariq Malik Published 17 June 10

A space capsule that may contain the first-ever samples from an asteroid in deep space has begun one last trek from its Australia landing site to Japan.

Hopes High for Asteroid Samples From Japanese Space Capsule

By Tariq Malik Published 14 June 10

The triumphant Sunday re-entry of Japan's Hayabusa asteroid probe have scientists hoping that the spacecraft's sample return capsule actually contains pieces of the asteroid Itokawa.