Hayabusa2

Hayabusa2 is a JAXA mission that visited asteroid 162173 Ryugu, dropped off a sample on Earth, and is traveling to other asteroids for flyby-observation. It was launched in 2014, visited asteroid Ryugu in 2018-2019, and dropped off a sample-return-capsule in 2020, then began its follow-on mission, termed Hayabusa2# ("Hayabusa two sharp"), which is scheduled to reach the first additional asteroid in 2026. Ryugu sample collection was carried out with brief touchdowns. The spacecraft also carried four small rovers to Ryugu that moved by hopping, an efficient method due to the asteroid's miniscule gravity. The Rovers:

• HIBOU (MINEVA-II Rover-1A).
• OWL (MINERVA-II Rover-1B).
• MINERVA-II-2 (MINERVA-II Rover 2) - problems became evident during the mission such that it could not function as a rover; instead, it was used as an impacting probe.
• MASCOT (Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout).

Other spacecraft instruments:

• ONC - Optical Navigation Camera.
• NIR3 - Near-Infrared Camera.
• TIR - Thermal Infrared Camera.
• LIDAR - Light Detection and Ranging.
• SMP - Sampling Device.
• SCI - Small Carry-on Impactor.
• DCAM3 - Deployable Camera.

MASCOT instruments:

• MicrOmega - infrared spectrometer.
• MASMAG - magnetometer.
• MARA - radiometer.
• MASCAM - camera.

Hayabusa2 is a follow-on to the earlier JAXA mission, Hayabusa, (aka MUSES-C) which was launched in 2003, visited asteroid 25143 Itokawa in 2005, and returned a sample to Earth in 2010.