Japan's Hayabusa2 successfully deploys two rovers on the surface of an asteroid
It's just like the movie Armageddon, but without the apocalypse scenario.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has reason to celebrate after successfully deploying a pair of robots on the surface of an asteroid. The mission, which played out on Friday, aims to gather photos and data from the asteroid called Ryugu.
The mission's success -- marking the end of a four-year journey -- was confirmed in a tweet on Saturday from JAXA's account for the Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer.
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A flood of imagery followed as the two hopping rovers -- yes, they get around by hopping -- set about their important task.
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You can keep up with the status of Hayabusa2's mission on JAXA's English-language website right here. There's also a post from JAXA discussing the mission here.
As JAXA notes, MINERVA-II1 "is the world’s first rover (mobile exploration robot) to land on the surface of an asteroid. This is also the first time for autonomous movement and picture capture on an asteroid surface."
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
