Hayabusa2 flies past asteroid as Japan aims to acquire data for planetary defense

Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe flew past the asteroid Torifune on Sunday — one of the closest encounters ever attempted by a spacecraft of its kind — on a mission that could provide data on how to defend Earth from collisions.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) spacecraft passed within close range of the 450-meter-wide asteroid’s center at around 6:30 p.m. Japan Standard Time while traveling at approximately 5 kilometers per second — or 18,000 kilometers per hour — relative to Torifune.The encounter marks a new phase for Hayabusa2, which completed its primary mission in 2020 after returning samples from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth. Since then, the probe has been operating on an extended mission, with Torifune serving as a key test before its planned rendezvous with the far smaller asteroid, 1998 KY26, in 2031.