ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
October 1, 2018
Japan space rovers lowered to asteroid to collect data
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
T
OKYO — A Japanese spacecraft
released two small rovers on an
asteroid in a mission that could
provide clues to the origin of the solar
system.
The Japan Space Exploration Agency
(JAXA) said the two Minerva-II-1 rovers
were lowered from the unmanned
spacecraft Hayabusa2 to the asteroid
Ryugu. The spacecraft arrived near the
asteroid, about 170 million miles from
Earth, in June.
Hayabusa2 approached as close as 180
feet to the asteroid to lower the rovers,
waited for a minute, and then rose back to
its waiting position about 12 miles above
the surface. JAXA said the release went
successfully.
The solar-powered rovers’ voltage
plunged as night fell on Ryugu, a sign that
they are on the asteroid, said Hayabusa
project team spokesman Takashi Kubota.
“We are very hopeful,” project manager
Yuichi Tsuda said. “I’m excited about
seeing the pictures. I want to see the
scenery of space seen from Ryugu’s
surface.”
The two rovers, each about the size of a
cookie can, are to capture images of the
asteroid and measure surface tempera-
tures before a larger rover and a lander are
released later. The rovers move by
“hopping” up to 50 feet at a time because
the extremely weak gravity on the asteroid
makes rolling difficult. They can continue
ASTEROID EXPLORATION. This computer
graphic image provided by the Japan Space Explora-
tion Agency (JAXA) shows two drum-shaped and
solar-powered Minerva-II-1 rovers on an asteroid.
Japanese unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 released
the two small rovers on the asteroid Ryugu on Friday,
September 21, 2018 in a research effort that may pro-
vide clues to the origin of the solar system. (JAXA via
AP)
jumping as long as their solar panels and
power last, JAXA said.
The release bolstered the confidence of
project members ahead of more difficult
maneuvers in the future, Tsuda said.
Hayabusa2 is scheduled to attempt
three brief touch-and-go landings on the
asteroid to collect samples in hopes of
providing clues to the origin of the solar
system and life on Earth. Since it arrived
at Ryugu, scientists have been looking for
suitable landing sites on the uneven
surface, and its first attempt is expected in
October.
The spacecraft is set to release a
German-French lander called MASCOT
carrying four observation devices in early
October and a bigger rover called
Minerva-II-2 next year.
Hayabusa2, launched in December
2014, is due to return to Earth in late 2020.
First private moon flight passenger to invite creative guests
By Christopher Weber
The Associated Press
L
OS
ANGELES
—
After
announcing that he’ll take the
first-ever commercial rocket trip
around the moon, Yusaku Maezawa said
he wants company for the weeklong
journey. The Japanese billionaire said he
plans to invite six to eight artists,
architects, designers, and other creative
people to join him on board the SpaceX
rocket “to inspire the dreamer in all of us.”
The Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) is
scheduled to make the trip in 2023, SpaceX
founder Elon Musk announced at an event
at its headquarters near Los Angeles.
Maezawa, 42, said he wants his guests
for the lunar orbit “to see the moon up
close, and the Earth in full view, and create
work to reflect their experience.”
Musk said the entrepreneur, founder of
Japan’s largest retail website, and one of
the country’s richest people, will pay “a lot
of money” for the trip but declined to
disclose the exact amount. Maezawa came
to SpaceX with the idea for the group
flight, Musk said.
“I did not want to have such a fantastic
experience by myself,” said Maezawa,
wearing a blue sports jacket over a white
t-shirt printed with a work by the late
painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. He said he
often mused about what artists like
Basquiat or Andy Warhol might have come
up with if they’d travelled into space.
“I wish to create amazing works of art for
humankind,” Maezawa said.
Maezawa didn’t immediately say who
will be on his guest list for the spaceflight,
but in response to a question from a repor-
ter he said he’d consider inviting Musk.
“Maybe we’ll both be on it,” Musk said
with a smile.
Musk said the BFR is still in
development and will make several
unmanned test launches before it takes on
passengers. The reusable 387-foot rocket
will have its own dedicated passenger
ship, and its development is expected to
cost about $5 billion, Musk said.
The mission will not involve a lunar
landing.
The average distance from Earth to the
moon is about 237,685 miles. Astronauts
last visited the moon during the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration’s
(NASA) Apollo program. Twenty-four men
flew to the moon from 1968 through 1972,
and half of them made it to the lunar
surface.
NASA is planning its own lunar flyby
with a crew around 2023. The space agency
also aims to build a staffed gateway near
the moon during the 2020s. The outpost
would serve as a stepping-off point for the
lunar surface, Mars, and points beyond.
Maezawa, a former musician, founded
the retail firm Start Today in 1998 and
built it into one of Japan’s most successful
companies. In 2012, he started the Tokyo-
based Contemporary Art Foundation to
support young artists. He made headlines
in 2016 when he paid more than $57
million at auction for an untitled work by
Basquiat. A year later, he paid more than
$110 million at auction for another piece
by the same artist.
Musk outlined a somewhat different
SpaceX lunar mission last year. He said
then that two people who know each other
approached the company about a weeklong
flight to the moon and back. Musk did not
name the clients last year or say how much
Continued on page 8
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