Jun 21 (NHK) - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, has released new images taken by its probe Hayabusa2. They show a crater-like indentation about 200 meters across near the equator of the Ryugu asteroid.
Four years after its launch, the probe is about 100 kilometers from the asteroid and is expected to reach it in about a week. The probe's primary mission is to collect rock samples from the surface of Ryugu which is about 900 meters in diameter.
The new images of Ryugu taken on Monday show the asteroid is pointed at its poles and has what looks like a mountain range running around its equator.
They also show the crater-like indentation near the equator moves from right to left as Ryugu turns.
JAXA has also released its first video of Ryugu. It is composed of 52 images taken from last Thursday through Friday. It shows the asteroid going through its 7-and-a-half-hour rotation.
JAXA mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa says he expects to find a suitable place for Hayabusa2 to land by analyzing the images.
