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Another Success for Hayabusa 2 as it Completes a Flyby of Asteroid Torifune

July 07, 2026
Another Success for Hayabusa 2 as it Completes a Flyby of Asteroid Torifune
By Evan Gough (https://ift.tt/JgBI4i6)

JAXA's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft has delivered our first closeup image of asteroid Torifune. The image clearly shows that the asteroid is a contact binary made of a pair of once separate asteroids that joined together. Image Credit: JAXA, The University of Tokyo, Chiba Institute of Technology, Institute of Science Tokyo, AIST, Paris Observatory, IAC.

JAXA's Hayabusa 2 has completed its flyby of asteroid Torifune. The spacecraft came within about 800 meters of the asteroid's surface. Though the spacecraft is travelling very rapidly, making navigation challenging, it was still able to capture clear images of the asteroid's boulder-strewn surface. Based on ground-based observations, scientists suspected that Torifune was a contact binary asteroid, and these images confirm it.



July 8, 2026 at 01:51AM
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